The Adult Life
by PrennCooder
Summary: COMPLETE! There is more than friendship stirring in Amity Park and more than one love story is going to be told here. War is on the verge of breaking out in the ghost zone and could start at any moment. Tension is in the air. Danny just wants to live the normal American dream with the girl he loves but will he ever get that chance before war disturbs their lives?
1. Chapter 1: Welcome Back

**The Adult Life**

**By PrennCooder**

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**Updated 2015. I added more detail to the story and I changed the pairing of TuckerxDani to TuckerxJazz and KibbonxDani because it never really sit well with me. That's the only major change to the storyline but if you have read this story before I would definitely suggest rereading! If you are just reading it for the first time, perfect! XD**

**HEY GUYS =P in honor of Danny Phantom's 10th anniversary, I'm rewriting a short story of mine from 2012. The story takes place in 2014 where Danny is 24. Follow up on the lives of all the characters as they have grown up ten years since the show...and Danny's gonna get married :3 This story will deal with years 2014-2018, the years of young adulthood leading from Danny's marriage to the birth of his twins who are the main protagonists of Camp Everstar/Daddy's Little Heroes/Phantom Dreamland. In essence, this story ties them all together :3**

**Originally this story was titled 'You may kiss the bride' and then 'Kiss the Bride', but I decided on going with 'The adult life' cuz more things are talked about in here than just the love stories. ****I'm putting in action and development with the characters getting jobs and moving into new living places and just being...adults XD ****I tried to include lots of genres in here like suspense, adventure, action, romance, tragedy, angst...so see if I did well! Remember unique is what I am going for- to write a story unlike anything else in the archive, as always ;)**

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**Chapter 1: "Welcome Back"**

The year was 2014. After two years of being educators at Komoto Preparatory School in Japan, Wenn Lestri, Larrow Koh Haida and Cecelia Hazel were finally ready to come back home to America. Cecelia had come there almost a year ahead of the guys. In their time in Japan, Wenn and Cecelia had dated and then broken up on the plane ride home. Larrow had come along with them on the plane ride, but he felt like a third wheel and with good reason.

There were moments where Larrow wished he had stayed in Japan with Preston and Niki, but he knew they'd make their way over to America soon enough and to the Tossi realm as well. Especially now that Wenn and Cecelia mutually agreed it was time to break up, Larrow knew he'd need to be there for his best friend Wenn. In essence, it was a very long plane ride. But the trio had friends waiting for them once they got to the Colorado airport. Cecelia was on her cell phone talking to an old friend of her own. "Kay, kay, Paulina, I'll have to call you back. And it won't be long distance anymore, yay!"

Cecelia grinned widely as she walked off of the plane after the boys. Just as she was putting her cell phone away in her pocket, she looked up to see some friends she had missed dearly. Seeing them in person was way better than Skyping them. While Larrow just waved to the people that he sort-of thought of as his friends, Cecelia was much closer to them than he would ever be. She went right down the line and issued them each their hugs.

"Tucker!" Cecelia hugged him and he smiled. "I missed all of your weird technology, haha." He nodded accordingly. He was dressed in a classy green suit and push glasses—SO not like the dorky frames he wore in high school. "Aw hey Danielle!" Cecelia embraced her good friend. Danielle had outgrown her hyperactive music-loving phase and had turned into a pretty cool adult with a black ponytail and side bangs. "Jazz! Hey girl!" Jazz's hair still curled up at the end but it was trimmed to her shoulders and she wore a headband and secretary's glasses with a style that matched her skirt. She hadn't changed much in appearance. But based on body language, she and Tucker were definitely together. That might take some getting used to.

Cecelia turned to the next person who was Danny. _He's cute as ever_, she thought as a strip of hair blew over her face. Danny smiled awkwardly. Cecelia laughed as they embraced in the friendly way. It was no secret that Danny had missed her in her time away. And though her hair was frizzier and her skin sunburned from spending too much time on the beach and her entire wardrobe revamped to modern Japanese styles, she was still the same girly girl underneath.

Danny, although still with that same boyish cuteness, had grown his hair just an inch or two longer than Cecelia remembered, making it an entirely new style. He was clean-shaven though he had once tried the whole goatee thing and nobody thought it worked. He was quite a bit more muscly than three years ago for _sure_. Kibbon was present here too, and somehow he and Cecelia had gotten back to being friends after having dated, though it was kind of weird to see the hints of Kibbon having paired off with Danielle. But the more Cecelia thought about it, the more she believed they would look cute together.

As for Danny, all the ghost and monster fighting had carved that muscle well. And it looked _great_! Cecelia was beginning to feel like he was the 'unattainable one' again, just like when they met when they were fifteen, and so many girls were crushing over him back then. Cecelia gasped softly when she realized something. _That was nine years ago_, she thought, _nine_. It was almost a decade! That was crazy.

Wenn simply nodded to each of his friends. It had taken him a year or two to consider them friends in the beginning, but getting used to the human-ish way of life was making him start to feel more human. Larrow, on the other hand, did not want to fully lose himself in this world, knowing that he'd have to return to the Tossi realm one day because he was betrothed to Shadase. And the day to marry her was approaching soon.

Wenn had only originally ventured off because his bride was lost in the human world, being a Tossi born without Tossi abilities or the species' golden eyes. It was a great misfortune that she had been recently found again, which meant that Wenn would eventually have to return to the Tossi realm as well.

Staring at his friends and watching them enjoy the company of each other and himself only made him want to postpone his responsibilities further. Insomuch that with one second of eye contact with Larrow, the two best friends knew that they would be apart for an indefinite amount of time while Larrow left and Wenn remained in Amity Park.

Shaking her head to ward off memories of hers and Danny's past breakup, Cecelia gave Garth his hug next and at the touch noticed that he was quite buff, even more so than Danny, as always. He was finally starting to fill out his tall stature instead of being so gangly and shadowy. "Where's Sam?" Cecelia realized out loud when she got to the end of the line. She had heard of Sam moving back to Amity Park from France, so why wasn't she around?

"At work." Tucker replied with a heavy sigh. "She's a preschool teacher."

"Oh yeah. Where do you all work now?" Cecelia asked the group.

"Well…er, I'm a waitress at Olga's." Danielle answered offhandedly with a cheeky roll of the eyes. "Not where I thought I'd be at twenty-two, but I'm satisfied. I'm going to try for better though."

"Unlike this lady, I'd consider myself pretty successful." Tucker said smugly, with a wink towards Danielle who shook her head. "I've started my own technology corporation with the funds I had saved from being deemed mayor of Amity Park almost ten years ago."

"I work for Tucker now." Jazz added, exchanging a smile with him. "Our tech specialty is ghost-hunting equipment. And yeah, my parents think it's just a normal technological corporation in case you were wondering. Wouldn't want them meddling if they ever found out I had anything to do with ghosts…and of course, we're together."

"Cool, cool." Cecelia acknowledged.

"You've missed out on quite a bit." Kibbon said just as he and Danielle joined hands. Cecelia shrugged, believing she could catch up soon enough.

"Well, I've gotta get back to Angel Academy." Garth mentioned quickly. He shuffled over, transformed, and sprang into the air. His future place of business' construction site was taking much longer than he initially presumed. Through a bazillion refs and recommendations, he had been requested to be the head of the board—the Principal—of Angel Academy.

He still didn't understand how that all happened, but he was quite honored, and didn't want to let anyone down. However he was also wanted in the ghost zone to help out the current dragon prince deal with some affairs. Garth's life was so busy now, but full of good things. He accepted it humbly. He no longer needed to work for the Guys in White, nor did he ever need to worry about just getting by. He had quit that job long ago.

Unfortunately this group were adults now and no longer teenagers, so their timetables were not fully their own anymore. Danielle had to get back in time to clock in for her shift. Before leaving, Danny had to check to make sure Cecelia had a place to stay. Before he could offer up the guest room in his house, Cecelia explained that she had already made arrangements with Jazz and Danielle.

As for Wenn and Larrow…since moving to Japan, the group of Tossi who used to live together in Colorado had sold their home in the suburbs. Wenn was going to rent an apartment while Larrow moved permanently to the Tossi realm. So, apparently this was goodbye from Larrow for now.

The separation of best friends was always harsh, but this was where Wenn and Larrow needed to be. Larrow figured it was about time for him to make his move on Shadase because they had been engaged since childhood or whatever. Wenn barely knew his arranged fiancée, Tara Richter, but as he was drifting farther from Cecelia, getting close to Tara might help him get over the depressing whims of the past that just didn't work out.

Wenn didn't think it would be proper to invite Cecelia to come stay at his apartment because of their past relationship and because he could tell Cecelia and Danny both still had feelings for each other. But he still felt bad for her. Knowing there was nothing more to do, he bid his farewells to everyone especially Larrow who he would miss the most. "I'm only a teleport away." Larrow reminded as he blanked out from the human realm.

Wenn and Larrow just hoped that Preston and Niki would be okay together in Japan by themselves without supervision. It was their first experience really on their own and they were sure to fight with each other, although destined to be together as Wenn had foreseen. But that didn't mean they would stay together. If there was ever a way to divorce Niki, Preston would take it because he was still in love with that Carter girl as he always had been. As Wenn walked away by himself, his mind was heavy with things, especially since he had a bad feeling regarding his friends. Some may call it an omen, but a Tossi's instinct always symbolized something drastic.


	2. Chapter 2: While You Were Gone

**Chapter 2: "While You Were Gone"**

Danny was going to head for Angel Academy to give Cecelia the official tour before the college opened to the public in 2016. Cecelia realized she didn't have a car or anywhere to go but was glad she had friends she could rely on. Perhaps she could someday land a job as the Academy's cheerleading coach? But she would still have to find a job for the two years till then. She'd probably apply to Downtown City High and Casper High when she had time.

Danny's car was white and pristine. It looked sort of…newish. Cecelia got into the passenger seat as Danny drove, following the caravan of their friends heading out of the parking lot to go their separate ways. Along the drive, Danny discussed changes in Amity Park. "I don't know if you still keep in touch with Paulina because I knew you two were good friends in the past, but did she ever mention that Kwan and Star got married right after college graduation?"

"Yeah I do but no she never talked about it. Wow!" Cecelia grinned. "That's fantastic!"

Danny laughed. "It was so predictable though."

"Yeah but I'm happy for them, haha."

"On the downside…"

"Oh no…"

"Garth and Angelina broke up about a month after you guys left for Japan."

Cecelia frowned. "No…" She said softly. "They loved each other…what happened? What could possibly be the problem if he had faithfully loved her since they were in elementary?"

"Garth never explained why. He's been pretty elusive whenever asked. But for just a little over a year now, he has been more mopey than usual."

"Yeah I heard about that." Cecelia laughed. "I found it a bit bizarre. I mean he was always mopey, but you'd think he'd have confidence by now to talk about it with her at least."

"This might sound bad but I'm not surprised he hasn't. I'd love to get the lowdown about what really happened back then though but nobody wants to tell me…"

"Now that I think about it, I wonder if his job has anything to do with it." Cecelia thought out loud. "What do you think will become of it all?" She wondered as Danny gave her an odd look. "I mean, Garth told me before a long time ago that he really isn't the marrying kind. And he doesn't want kids."

"Yeah. He told _me_ before he thought he'd make a terrible father."

"That, and, he doesn't even like children. He seems almost _afraid_ of…never mind." Cecelia shook her head. "Was Angelina okay with that? I know we never really got to know her, because she's four years older than us and only ever indirectly associated with us, but yeah."

"Dunno, actually. But maybe it's the reason she broke up with him. The kids thing, I mean. As for her work method, she knows her stuff, and being the daughter of two agents kinda had her used to doing her own thing right from the start. I met her once I believe, briefly, but I didn't get to learn much about her back then."

"Perhaps. I feel so bad for him about it all though! He really loves her! Er, _loved_."

"Just between the two of us, I think he still does. And he pines for her. It's clearly sadness in his eyes. But don't tell anyone of their history. He confided in both of us often which is why I'm telling you, but I don't want to hurt him."

Cecelia nodded in agreement. "I won't."

The sky was blue and seemed very promising as Cecelia now beheld for the first time Angel Academy, the elite college for exceptional students with powers, who were referred to as cadulan. In all its white-gated green-pastured glory, there were still dozens of adults shuffling around the place. The Academy was protected by two shields—one clear and one blue; the first being invisible to humans' eyes and making the second shield invisible to humans as well. The land plot must have been about thirty acres and stunning. Construction workers were everywhere.

The two of them walked around. Cecelia was ever so impressed that Danny was one of the official guards. "All kinds of creeps and monsters and jerks are trying to get into the place all the time, but we won't let them." Danny explained as Cecelia was taking it all in. The halls seemed endless, as they were built to host such large numbers of people.

"We? Who else?"

"Danielle, Garth, Kibbon…and many more people you don't know. Tucker and Jazz aren't considered official guards because they're fully human, buuuut, they're great assets to the staff."

"I think it's fabulous that you've all come together for this."

"Yeah, yeah, and you don't even know the best part yet. I'm training for _NASA_. As soon as AA is up and running successfully, the security won't need me as much and…then I'll finally be able to live my dream. 2016 is THE year, Cecelia, _2016_…!"

"WOW GOSH I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!" Cecelia glomped him into a hug just as they were leaving after the quick tour. Since Danny was not on duty, he and Cecelia had to get out of the way quickly. Guests couldn't spend too much time on campus. As they were driving, it occurred to Cecelia that she didn't know where he was taking her next. She had been quite out of contact with Tekairo, to the point where they didn't consider each other their best friend any more. Cecelia was quite discouraged at this, but she looked to Danny and believed that he knew where he was going. "Do you have your own house?" Cecelia wondered aloud.

"Yeah…it's a really great house too. I bought it about eight months ago. I'll show it to you later. For now, I have to get to my classes. I'm still in college…haha…right now we're going to Jazz and Danielle's house." He turned quickly down the suburb street. "Neither of them are home at the moment. But the three of us Fentons agreed that you should have Danielle's car until you're ready to buy one of your own."

"Danielle called me about that a few days ago. I wondered why. What'll she drive?"

Danny chuckled softly. "Half-ghost, remember? She doesn't really _need_ a car, but…she has Jazz's if anything, and you're probably going to stay with them for a while. It's not like she'll have no access to it, and…word on the street is, Kibbon's going to propose to her soon."

Cecelia gasped excitedly. "WOW!"

"Yeah, haha. But don't say anything. I got permission to tell you. The only other person who knows is Jazz. Tucker has already proposed to Jazz and they will be getting married soon. Sorry if I'm kind of going too fast here for you. I know it's a lot to take in that my sisters—your friends—could all be getting married soon. Wow."

Cecelia giggled excitedly. "No—please. Keep going! I love this."

Danny laughed as pulled into the driveway of a very relaxed brown-bricked one-story and stopped the car. The garden out front was neatly decorated with colorful flowers of all sorts including porcelain lawn ornaments. "If I think of more to say I will tell you. My house isn't too far from here. But you _will_ stay with them, right? They have a guest bed."

Cecelia nodded. "I do rather like the idea of having roommates. I don't like to be alone."

"No one does." Danny phased them into the house when he was sure there were no neighbors around. Then he used his spare key to unlock the garage. He pulled another set of keys out of his pocket which were the keys to Danielle's silver Chevy. The car was kind of plain and hadn't been through a car wash in a good while. "It's all yours." He tossed it to her.

Cecelia smiled. Danny unlocked the front door when he remembered Cecelia's luggage still had to be brought into the bedroom. And so now the two of them brought all of her suitcases and bags and things into the living room. Cecelia had talked this over with Danielle and Jazz earlier, though she still felt guilty of not having a place of her own to go to.


	3. Chapter 3: Back to Normal

**Chapter 3: "Back To Normal"**

Danny had to run off to his college class so this left Cecelia alone in the house but he had left her the key. She was bored for a bit as she began to unpack and listen to music he had heard too many times. She jumped for the phone as Jazz called the house to make sure she was there and doing fine.

They'd get settled later, because now that it was almost time for dinner, Jazz wanted Danielle to swing by and take Cecelia out. Now that Cecelia was back home for good, there was a lot of catching up to do and girls always liked to take time out of the busy work life! Danielle flew into the house and phased through the wall, startling Cecelia a bit.

"Hi!" Danielle hugged her old friend, hoping this would start to feel like normal life soon. "Sorry to leave so quickly earlier, but meh, the work life…well I suppose you know all about it girl." Cecelia and Danielle briefly went shopping together and got their nails done, just to relax and feel more like girls again instead of adults. Around six and slightly later than Jazz would have wanted, the three girls met up with Sam and Valerie at Olga's.

Since all their interests and diverse personalities took them onto different tracks in life, they did not sit down with each other often anymore. But Jazz had arranged this dinner special, ahead of time, just to get reacquainted with how their lives had changed since they last hung out altogether.

Upon first look at Valerie, Cecelia did not recognize her. They hadn't talked since high school. Valerie had gained more weight and chopped off several inches of her hair. It was all poofy and frizzy and not at all stylish anymore. _She really let herself go_, Cecelia thought. Valerie carried a small yellow purse that looked expensive.

Sam hadn't changed much. She was still skinny with hair cut to her ears, dark makeup and a short purple skirt. Her black vest was shiny and somewhat fashionable to those with the gothic taste. Though it seemed her rebel style had mellowed down a bit, this was probably still what she went to work in. Because of Sam's maturity, being a preschool teacher and influencing kids to be more mature seemed oddly fitting to her though none of the other girls would have pinned her for one on the spot.

Sam had kind of distanced herself from this group for the most part. She might have thought them good friends in high school but that didn't mean she would hang out with them for the rest of her life. But every now and again, she popped in. "So what do you think you're going to do with your life here, Cecelia?" Sam asked as the group at sown. "I thought you loved being an instructor in Japan."

"I do, very much. I'm going to miss all those teenagers. I had a very real connection with each of them. There was one student, Sirriama, who I even trained with on the side. I felt honored that someone would think that highly of me as to ask for private training. I feel at a loss for quitting. But I wanted to come back. I was starting to get too homesick and so were the guys. I hope I can get a similar job here, maybe teaching at our old high school."

Valerie wanted to speak up to mention that she was teaching at Casper High now, but Jazz spoke first. "I'd never quit my job working for Tucker since he's got a knowledge of technology that's unreal." Jazz said in amazement. "He's simply amazing. The more I'm around him, the more I realize we have so much in common. Trust me, once he's in his element, he's brilliant. He might seem like a bit of a clown and a nerd to you at first but…he is not to be underestimated."

"Cool." Cecelia said.

"It didn't take us long to settle on a date for the wedding." Jazz continued. "Back to work…it's absolutely fantastical to see my schematics come to life because he and Nett and the Jiggs brothers know how to make things _work_. And we make sure to keep Danny and Danielle up to date so they know what's out there and how to avoid being detained by it just in case one of our enemies gets ahold of it. There's something about creating monster-catching gadgets to help Team Phantom keep the bad guys out of the way that is very near and dear to my heart."

"Team Phantom?" Cecelia questioned, half out of guilt and half out of hope. "You mean, it hasn't disbanded? I thought you guys agreed to disband after Wenn and I left…not to long after Team Prism disbanded…"

"When did Team Prism disband?" Danielle asked.

"2011 just before Wenn and I left in 2012. I mean, technically it's still spreading around as we made it open to other cadulan allies that they could join, but, none of us original members keep tabs on it anymore. We can just rest assured knowing that the principles of what we set in motion are being carried out and that this town is always under several layers of protection."

Valerie sighed and flicked her hair out of the way to get a bite of her food. "Team Phantom still stands, as far as I'm concerned. As long as _we_ exist, _it_ exists."

"The original members of Team Phantom," Sam began in her presentation voice, "Are Danny, Tucker, Jazz, and myself. As long as we all keep in general contact, I'd say we're still a team. But I've kind of just been watching from the sidelines for now." On her phone she got a text which interrupted her train of thought. But she quickly shook it off and got back to what she had been saying. "Then new members Garth, Kibbon, Cecelia, and Danielle joined afterwards. Wenn was always questionable, and then there were several "honorary members". I think…that the proper name of Team Phantom is fading, being less and less often used…since it _has_ been ten years after all. We're becoming a part of history now rather than a current thing."

"Weird. It's so unsettling to think ten years ago is part of history now though it feels like it was just yesterday." Valerie shook her head.

"Yeah." Jazz quieted down. "But we're all adults now, and focused on our jobs." She looked back down at her food. She was very good at concealing her feelings since she was logical more so than emotional. She was clueless when it came to dealing with overly strong emotions, though she could probably give a rocket science presentation if she wanted to. Same old Jazz!

Danielle sighed curtly. "You can handle it Jazz…"

One glance from the brunette told Danielle that Cecelia hadn't been kept up-to-date on the whole Jazz situation. Valerie and Sam didn't even know, since they weren't close with Jazz. Sam mentally retched at the thought of o'l Dragon Boy being brought up again. Jazz hadn't ever been the type to open up, especially in public, but she gave Danielle a nod in approval to go ahead and explain it.

"Garth put in a request for Jazz to be his Vice at Angel Academy. They're not a thing, but, he just figured she was the best woman for the job." Danielle confessed to the table on Jazz's behalf. "Even though she's human. The request is in the works right now. It's been in the works for a while. The board of other Principals can't seem to decide on a ruling. Er, I mean, a fair way to decline. Tucker was fine with it either way, though the Vice is usually the partner of the Principal. It's unknown how Angelina feels about this since none of us really contact her."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Is there any way I can help?"

Jazz slurped at her smoothie. "No, Cecelia, I'd prefer it if you guys just stay out of it." She replied curtly, slightly embarrassed that Danielle said what she did. "I'm a grown woman. I can handle this, like you said, Danielle."

Danielle nodded. "Yeah! Come on, that's the spirit. I believe in you. So what if they turn it down? You've still got a great job! So, you can't lose. Maybe that's just my youthful energy talking, but, I really believe in you."

Jazz sighed. "No…Danielle, that's not what I'm worried about. I'm anxious because he never asked before he requested me. He figured he'd be doing me a favor by the great honor it would be to become a Vice, he never asked if it was what I wanted. Maybe I'm happy with the job I have. Just…if it gets approved, it'd be kind of selfish for me to decline. I'd be expected to take up the position. Don't tell him any of this please, ladies, because I still don't know how I'm going to tell him, if I even do."

Sam whistled. "Wow that's a real tight spot. But best of luck to you."

Cecelia looked away. Back at Komoto, being the partner of a Principal was a super-huge deal, especially since the Principal's family was considered almost like royalty and their offspring was expected to be the next Principal in line. Was Jazz ready for this? To be the Vice of the first and only cadulan college? And the first human Vice ever?

Would people pressure her into getting together with Garth, even though there was nothing there? Could she possibly trick herself into thinking there was? Everything seemed all too confusing, with the weight of the world resting on their shoulders as adults. Adults were expected to move on to bigger and better things and to likewise handle adult problems.

_Angel Academy's board probably wouldn't allow her to be Vice even if the international board of Principals couldn't find a legal reason to decline_, Cecelia thought. Being human alone went against several rules, but Garth was human-born, and that was a point that could be argued, and Jazz's credentials of being Danny Phantom's blood sister and one of the four original members of Team Phantom were undeniable.

Knowing that many cadulan species were elite and unwelcoming to humans was a hard challenge to have to deal with. Any human who got in on their world had to be pretty special, or at least an agent of CorUPT, Triple Estena, or Society of Friends. For sure humanity had to be the cause of more than one dispute between Garth and Jazz. But was there more going on behind the scenes that Jazz chose not to reveal?


	4. Chapter 4: Simple Question

**Chapter 4: "Simple Question"**

Ignorance was the real enemy of this world. And there were some people out there who wanted to keep the younger generations ill-informed. It was Team Phantom's current responsibility to defend and protect the knowledge that kept the cadulan subculture aware of justice, rights, and moral standards. It was no sugar-coated piece of cake—it was a twenty-four-seven bloody battle. Cecelia contemplated this as she and the others drove to their respective places of residence for the night. Time rolled on.

Whether or not Team Phantom had disbanded, it was definitely going to make a comeback! Change was on the rise. Tucker and Jazz had a normal wedding and Jazz wanted to start going by Jasmine now. It didn't really catch on, but she was determined to make it so. Lots of things happened in such a short span of time, making this year one of the most eventful years ever for Danny's friends and family. He and his best friend were now brothers in law!

As for Danny himself— he lived peacefully in 1364 Daren Street. That was the house—Danny's dream house. He had been there for just over a year. The board of Angel Academy had insisted paying him to help guard the construction site since he was the town's most famous hero after all. The income was steady. It was more than he could ever want to spend.

Danny could be living the slightly affluent life right now, but instead he chose to live normal and save up. He didn't know what he was saving up for exactly. The future? A family? He had always wanted a family and loved children…and was good with them too. But more than anything, he loved work, he loved the neighborhood, and he loved Cecelia. Still, after their breakup in their junior year of high school, his feelings remained. Their love was true and pure and it wasn't the kind of thing that could change with time or distance.

They never really grew apart despite living on opposite ends of the world for a while. He wanted her back in his life; he wanted to get close as ever. He often wondered if his feelings were returned but was too shy to ask. What had happened to them back then that split them up? It was all a blur. Just one moment he was sitting in a classroom happy, and then the next…they were arguing and so were their classmates. The world was in perfect harmony when they were together, but when apart, it was chaos. Danny wanted to feel that certain peace again.

One day, Danny was in his basement doing the laundry. He walked upstairs because he heard the doorbell ring. Who else could it be but his best friend Tucker? There was never a day where they didn't keep in touch, along with Kibbon, Jazz, and Danielle. Whether it was a phone call or a visit, Tucker was determined to stay close to the Fenton family as they were…his potential future bride and Best Man.

"So Danny…" Tucker used this off-the-wall tone. "Cecelia's back. And you know she isn't dating anyone…" Tucker reminded him. "You've both dated other people, I know, but in the time you've spent apart I think it's time you realized some things. We all know you love her. Well, everyone knows but her. I mean, she might even know it deep down and just hasn't realized it yet. You know how she can be a bit dim…anyways, I'll get back to the point."

Danny sighed and looked away. "I knew this talk was coming for a while actually. Well, there's no point in denying it now. Keep going."

"You know you keep coming back to the memories of dating her being some of the happiest memories in your life. You still talk about it sometimes like it was not too long ago when you two broke up." Danny started a stutter of denial, but he retreated. "Man, it's been like…seven years, except for a bit of whatever in senior year, and that college thing, and that one brief something just before she left. Do they count? I don't know. If they count to you then you two have a long history actually."

"Yes we do…we dated here and there. But once she went to Japan, we decided it would be better if we broke it off. I heard she got back with Wenn, and then she broke that off. Our love lives are complicated and I've got this nagging feeling about everyone pairing up so fast. I don't want to get left out but I don't want that to be the only reason I get back with Cecelia. I don't want her to ever think I want to be with her just so I'm not alone. But we both know if I don't get with her, somebody else will. And I just can't imagine anyone else being right for her."

"You want to go back." Tucker laughed. "I know you're in earnest. You can't let go of that." Tucker always told the truth that Danny needed to hear; Danny relied on that, even if it hurt. Danny sighed, annoyed and uncomfortable now, but he didn't regret hearing those words. "You just can't accept what happened. It has to be right. That makes it special, eh?"

"Yeah, it's great, huh." Danny smiled slightly.

"Are you two ever going to actually…?"

"You mean, am I going to ask her out? This soon? Are you kidding? I don't want to put her into any sort of awkward position after she just got back. I don't want her to think I'm dating her for the wrong reasons either. She needs some time; I just don't know how much. Women hate being rushed. I have sisters; you should know, too. You're married to one of them."

Tucker laughed. "Yeah, I know. But hey, if I was in your shoes, I'd go one further than asking her out." Danny gave a spacey look. "You should tell her the truth—that you've been in love with her all this time. Women love that kind of romantic line. And it's even better when it's real. Trust me, I know." He felt smug throwing that last line back at Danny.

Danny shrank and started about his household business of cleaning and organizing all his kitchen supplies while Tucker just stood there, waiting for his friend to accept the truth. This was Danny's big shot at her and if he didn't take her now, she'd have a boyfriend probably within the month. Danny shook his head as he considered putting his feelings out there so suddenly, but then his eyes saddened shortly thereafter.

"I heard about how she dated Wenn." Danny recalled all too well. "Hearing that was like a little pinch of a needle poking in the chest…in the _heart_, but I was happy for her."

"She and blondie are long over, TRUST ME." Tucker laughed a little. "We all tried to befriend Wenn and the other Tossi…but they always had this little dark streak of mischief. I think it's inbred in them." He scoffed. "But _you're_ a good guy through and through. I've seen you grow into a good man. You and Cecelia deserve each other. She could do much better than Wenn, that's for sure."

Danny couldn't argue with that. He and Tucker walked to the café a few blocks down to get some coffee and just to hang out. Finding time outside of their busy schedules just to be bored and sit around doing nothing was something they looked forward to. These times were rare. People walked in and out, in and out, while Danny and Tucker chatted about their lives and financial situations and families.

On the bright side there was more to talk to now that they saw each other less often. Ghost activity in Amity Park had been at an all-time low and getting lower, with maybe one rogue ghost a month for Danny to capture. Nobody had seen head or tail of Vlad since he moved out of his mansion about three years ago. Danny gladly wished he would never have to see that old fruit loop creep again.

Come nightfall, the guys were going to head over to Wenn's apartment for a surprise sort of home-coming thing, arranged by Jazz. Since it had been about two weeks since Wenn had come back from Japan, he had not had much contact with his friends. So it was rather weird to one night find Danny, Tucker, Cecelia, Kibbon, Jazz, and Danielle at Wenn's doorstep. Garth would have come, but he was busy with Angel Academy paperwork.

In the interest of politeness, Sam was invited, but she and Wenn were easily annoyed by each other so it was obvious that she wasn't going to come. Wenn was surprised Kibbon dared to show up even since Kibbon had always annoyed Wenn too, but, Kibbon never gave up on the idea that they could become friends.

Wenn frowned as he opened the door to see them standing there. That was the face he made out of annoyance that led them to believe this was one of the rare times they had actually succeeded in surprising him. Danielle brought the games and Tucker brought the snacks. Board games bored Wenn, but for the sake of his friends, he tolerated them. The group seemed to be enjoying themselves, _especially Cecelia, _Wenn noted, _especially her_.

Near the break, in between competitive games of Dutch Blitz, where Wenn as using his powers to his advantage, everyone broke for food. Wenn caught Danny thinking about asking Cecelia out. "You should do it," Wenn mentioned subtly, catching Danny off-guard, "There isn't much time. You only have a short window of opportunity."

"Huh?" Danny wondered innocently, pretending he hadn't just been thinking of that. But the halfa was so very bad at lying.

"You know full well what I am talking about. Now go on." Danny stared back at Wenn challengingly. "You go…_or I will_." Wenn was bluffing, though no one could really tell, because after all, his bluffs seemed more believable at times than the truth from the lips of others.

Danny slowly got up and walked to where Cecelia was shuffling cards for the next game. Tucker pulled Jazz away to talk in another room and Kibbon, Danielle, and Wenn slowly moved into the kitchen. Talking really loudly, they pretended to be focused on other things to give Danny a sporting chance. "Hey." Danny sat down beside Cecelia, with a friendly smile on his face.

Clueless as ever, Cecelia smiled and replied back with a distant grin. "Hey."


	5. Chapter 5: The Dating Life

**Chapter 5: "The Dating Life"**

Danny looked away slightly, feeling a bit awkward and uncomfortable as the butterfly feeling in his stomach churned around inside of him. He hadn't felt like this in years. He had to keep repeating to himself over and over in his head that he might actually have a chance here, provided he didn't screw up in front of her. "How's Amity Park? Just like you remembered?" _Ah! Couldn't go wrong with such an innocent question_, Danny thought.

"Not really." She shrugged. Danny gasped dramatically. Panic! He had miscalculated. "Well, for one, Garth is acting a bit cold-blooded more so than usual lately, Sam is back from France, I haven't heard a lame joke come outta Tucker since I got here, Tekairo and I have nothing to talk about anymore, Valerie's shutting everyone out of her life, Danielle isn't obsessed with music, and I haven't seen one crazy burst out of Kibbon which is odd because he used to text me or contact me somehow at least once a week and you'd think he'd want to hang out now that I'm back. But maybe that has to do with him dating Danielle now; I don't know."

Danny rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly—an old habit. "Yeah…haha…"

"Everyone's like…totally new. But that's a good thing I guess. They've grown as people and so have I. It's almost like I'm getting to know them all over again and it gives me a strange sort of fresh start as well."

"Well, Kibbon's busy working on preparing lessons for Angel Academy. He got the job as one of the Field Training teachers, by the way. That might be what occupies most of his thoughts. Can't say I know exactly how I feel about him dating my sister but since he's your ex I'm sure you feel awkward about it too. But I've accepted it because I know they bring out the best in each other in ways you wouldn't expect." Cecelia gave a nod. Now here was Danny's chance to guide the conversation more in the direction he wanted it to go. "How about me? Have I changed?" He asked curiously, hoping he hadn't, or at least not in a negative way.

She gazed briefly into his clear sky blue eyes as she fondled with her scarf. "No." She said, smiling lightly. "You're still exactly the same and I love it. I mean, you've matured, but you haven't surprised me. The things you're doing with your life now and the person you've become is exactly what I predicted you'd be ever since I got to know you."

Danny smiled as well, without realizing it. There was a slight pause wherein they just stared straight at each other and then finally he snapped out of it and asked. "Do you want to go out with me? Again?"

Cecelia laughed. "Yeah, sure, that'd be cool."

It was SO easy! Why had he been so nervous? Why did his skin crawl every time he was afraid of making a mistake in front of her? "So are you free this upcoming Friday."

"Yes, I believe I am." She grinned. And so it was on! _Now that he had gotten past the awkward part, things could only get better from here_, Danny thought. From this point, many movie nights and cute little fancy dinners would follow. It killed Wenn just a little every time he heard about Danny and Cecelia being all cutesy and romantic together, but he knew it was for the best. Unfortunately it made Wenn pull away from his friends even more than he already was starting to. Now he just wanted to be away from them…to get his mind off of it…off of the pain.

On top of that, his apartment was very lonely with just him living there. Sometimes he debated on visiting the Tossi realm to visit Tara, but got to procrastinating this. To add to further reasons to keep away from the Fentons and the people they were dating, Wenn had a dream depicting an unavoidable argument between Garth and Jazz. Whatever it was she was going to tell him was not going to go over well.

It was just a matter of time before Garth retreated more into his hermit-like nature, like he had when he was a young teen. Wenn believed Garth and Jazz almost as opposite as it could get and events would carry their lives out to very different courses…only for Garth and Angelina to reunite at the most unlikely of times over something they had in common.

But by then events would have unfolded in such a way that further restoration in their relationship would be nearly impossible. So, in essence, they were simply going to be reminded that the other existed and that was all. Unless some of their friends were to intervene. While Wenn pondered over the events of the lives of others, said others kept on doing what they were doing.

Cecelia visited her twin sister Anni in the city every so often. Anni was still living with their cousin Cialos, but they had moved out of Cialos's parents' home. Cialos was making sure she was always alright, since she had been insane for most of her life after all. Meanwhile, since Wenn had to live by human rules in their realm, this would mean he would have to secure a job here. Now, he really didn't want to, but he needed this thing called money.

Since he was very wise in the way the cadulan world operated and was great at giving advice, he was going to be a consultant at the same place where ever-irritating Kibbon had been working since 2009. But supposedly he was going to quit officially soon and start working at Angel Academy. Wenn would have applied there as well and would have almost certainly gotten in, but he was just sick of teaching and sick of teenagers in general.

This would make them coworkers, but the job was something Wenn would enjoy for sure. It wasn't a difficult thing for Wenn to just walk right in to the building and say that he wanted to be an employee. Using his persuasion, he influenced the secretary to interview him in her office right on the spot. He couldn't produce career records of anything, since that had been at Komoto of course.

But he DID convince her he had the job which led her to believe he had an impressive record and degree. Though he really had no college degree because all he had ever taken were two years of GenEds and then two years of vague profession classes. He had no specific degree but knew a lot from the information he absorbed from other professors and students.

Thus, Wenn walked out of the building office…employed, but not starting for a few months. Life was happening. Wenn was moving on. The Tossi man didn't _like_ to move on, really, especially when he had been so content with the way life had been when he was teaching in Japan and dating Cecelia. He was a full-fledged adult now. With a job that he'd be spending this summer planning and then starting work in the fall.

Tucker had become more sophisticated and classy and had a team of technology-loving brains working for him, such as the Jiggs brothers and Nett Davis. Tucker wasn't so awkward anymore and he had outgrown a bit of his corny folly. He was turning into the kind of guy Jazz had always wanted as well—a smart, organized gentleman.

Cecelia was loving moving on but she was taking it slower than her friends. She had applied to both Downtown City High and Casper High to be the cheerleading coach and Casper had declined because the position was held by Paulina. However, Downtown City had accepted her for next year, which made her excited. She still needed some kind of summer job, and she was not above working in the old coffee shop that she and Wenn used to hang out at several years ago. Wenn had to take some work as a mechanic's assistant until it would come time for planning the school lessons for the term. So basically their paths rarely crossed again, until one day when Larrow paid Amity Park and unexpected visit.

Larrow popped in at Wenn's apartment first and rung the bell. They hung out like they used to, but playing video games and causing mischief and tricking people around town didn't amuse them like it used to. Eventually they wound up at Danny's house, where Tucker was too. Daren Street was a pretty boring street but it was a good one—ideal for children growing up or old people's retirement days.

The four guys were in the living room drinking the coffee that Danny had prepared for them. Larrow waited for Tucker to take a big sip and then he spoke. "So, well…guys…Shadase and I got married a few days ago. Just putting it out there for all you losers who could never imagine me actually going through with it."


	6. Chapter 6: The Thing About Destiny

**Chapter 6: "The Thing About Destiny"**

Tucker spit out the coffee, fast, just like Larrow predicted he would. He and Wenn laughed as Tucker's spittle drizzled all down his shirt. The techno geek hated himself for losing his cool, especially in front of the Tossi guys who still scared him to pieces some times. "Aw, man! I've got a date with Jazz tonight!" Larrow laughed.

Danny just stared at the two Tossi, shocked and bewildered. "Larrow, it just happened like that?" He snapped his fingers. "And you didn't invite any of us?"

"Well, it was in the Tossi realm." Larrow would have invited Wenn, but Wenn didn't like Shadase and certainly didn't want to see them married. "And it was kind of private too. We both wanted a small wedding." Wenn tried to be amused still as Danny and Tucker in turn issued their congratulations to Larrow followed by a series of questions, but truth be told, Wenn was beginning to feel even more so a person of two cultures.

Wenn was destined to be with Tara, whether he wanted to be or not. And…he didn't. He was only putting off what was _going_ to happen. Procrastinating. Putting it off to minimize time with her. He planned to divorce her eventually if at all possible as he dreaded all thought of the whole situation. He had been betrothed to her as an infant. They had to be married before they were thirty, as Tossi legality decreed. He wanted to just get it over with already but he didn't want his friends to make a big deal out of it. And he had a feeling that Tossi laws were going to change soon. Tossi laws NEVER changed, so Wenn didn't exactly know what to expect.

When the day was done, Wenn was inspired to give Tara a visit. He teleported to the Tossi realm and to her parents' address. Ever since Tara had been found by Tossi authorities and told that she was not human genetically despite having no powers, she had moved to the Tossi realm to live with and get to know her birth parents.

They had given her up for adoption in the human world when she was a baby because they were embarrassed to have born a "Non" Tossi, a person of weak genetic heritage who didn't inherit the Tossi abilities. Every once in a while, a human born of a Tossi came around, and it was a shameful thing to be. Non-Tossi could have Tossi offspring if married to a Tossi though. Tara was still just getting to know her Tossi heritage, but all she had seen so far, she liked. Finally she felt like she belonged somewhere.

Wenn wished they'd have never found her. She had no powers. She was a skater girl and never very social. She could have been kinda pretty if she tried, but she didn't. Her hair was raven black and she wore boring clothes. She wanted to be a doctor and didn't have much of a sense of humor. _She couldn't be more blah_, Wenn thought.

There was nothing to identify Tara as Tossi except splitting resemblance to her parents and a few fragmented ancestor traits here and there. She didn't belong to the Tossi world. But somehow she belonged to Wenn. All because of a stupid marriage that had been arranged before Tara had even been born. Wenn believed Tara would become a doctor and had seen in her mind that she was rather brilliant and dedicated in the practice, having taken advanced classes even in high school. She answered when he rang the doorbell, smiling slightly bashfully.

_That's right, she has a crush on me…I forgot she used to like Larrow and I in that way, _Wenn thought. He stepped inside and she prepared some tea for the two of them. She mentioned that her parents were out as they tried to strike up a conversation on the brown sofa. "So you are an only child." Wenn stated plainly. "I am too." He was terrible at starting off, but she liked him too much to care.

"Yeah, I was hoping for siblings in my new life, but I already have two lives and heh heh, I can't have everything, right?" She moved around so as to try and make herself more comfortable. Wenn nodded. It was so obvious that she was falling for him, by her rash movements and nervous thoughts. A once frigid, slightly cynical teen was maturing and branching out to experience the strange new feeling of having a crush whose relationship with her was becoming a reality.

Everything about Wenn made Tara feel uneasy, and _totally_ not herself. She had done several things to try and make herself look more appealing, though she would always be a bit unattractive to Wenn. Having met her here, by reading her mind, Wenn could see a potential friendship in their future but he knew he could never love her.

But for the sake of the future here, Wenn was going to have to pretend to fall for her too or at least imply it. Eventually. Not yet. He was putting it off because he didn't want to do it. Nothing could make him want to be with her. Nothing could push him in to getting on with this. He had six years, right? Six years till he turned thirty and had to marry her by default? Bad things happened to Tossi who broke the law—_bad things_. Wenn kept waffling back and forth on when he was going to propose and he needed something extra to make him go through with it.

Wenn wasn't above procrastinating until that very day, because after that day, he really wasn't living out _his_ life anymore. He would be living based off a stupid decision his parents had made over twenty years ago. And they were long dead and gone, probably rolling over in their graves if they had known the notion that Wenn wanted to disobey them. As Wenn continued this aimless conversation with Tara, he found himself wishing luck for Team Phantom.

He prayed silently there with his eyes open while Tara was rambling, that somehow everything would work out for the good. After being with Tara for a few hours, it finally hit him square in the head that he was going to have to get married to this lady and spend the rest of his life with her. They would have a child, unfortunately a Tossi of the psychic nature as well.

The boy would grow up hating Wenn who had only ever loved Cecelia and not his mother. The boy would be torn by fear of his father and as well wanting to keep his secret a secret, but also feeling the duty to tell his mother the truth of why she went unloved by her husband. _It was no fair_, Wenn thought to himself, _no fair at all_. But in a way…it kinda was. Wenn paid the price of his misdeeds when younger.

The summer to follow was very lazy and sweet; a direly-needed refreshment to the friends of Amity Park. Kibbon had proposed to Danielle all of a sudden one night. Their friends were glad to see that it had FINALLY happened. The wedding to follow was held a mere two and a half weeks after the proposal because Kibbon and Danielle had both waited this long after dating, so they were both ready to get married quick.

It was a small wedding of only about two hundred guests. The honeymoon in the Caribbean lasted an entire week and then was over all too soon. The young couple returned to Amity Park and carried on normally in their new little house which was not more than a block apart from Danny's or Cecelia's. Life was quiet for roommates Cecelia now that both Jazz and Danielle had moved out. Cecelia hated living alone at first but it wasn't as bad as it seemed it would be. As long as she filled her days with time spent with friends, she was fine.

Jazz was keeping up in the lives of her college friends in a similar way that Cecelia was trying to build back her friendships with Paulina, Tekairo, and Valerie. It wasn't working out so well, but Cecelia did learn about Valerie dating Bob Foley. And then the boring life of the reality of being young adults continued. Being lax was freeing in a way, but for others, it could be quite a bother. Wenn was still undecided of whether or not he was going to move to the Tossi realm for a bit before work started, but Danny was quite content with the house he had. In fact Danny seemed content with everything just as it was, except _one_ thing.

Danny wanted to move forward in his and Cecelia's relationship before the summer ended. But he didn't know if it was the right move or just impulsiveness talking. He didn't even know if it could be right for her. Their lives had changed so much already and he didn't want to add something else to it.

So, he did what all guys would do first—he consulted his best friend. He called Tucker out as soon as the guy was out of work. Danny didn't know how to bring the topic up once Tucker got there though. They had a lot of long awkward pauses until Tucker asked what Danny brought him here for. "This is about Cecelia and I." Danny confessed on the spot.

"Ohhh." Tucker's face lit up and he laughed. "Are you two FINALLY going to…"

"Go steady? Yeah, we went steady a long time ago! Didn't I tell you?"

"I meant, are you ever going to _propose_ to her?"


	7. Chapter 7: Moving Forward

**Chapter 7: "Moving Forward"**

Danny took a deep breath. He couldn't believe Tucker practically read his mind like that! "For what it's worth, I think you should while you still have the chance. Elope while the weather's still good and everything will feel alright. Don't wait till December when it's in the forties outside."

Danny shivered. "Yeah nobody likes that cold time of the year."

Tucker could see that Danny could use awhile to ponder on the idea and let it all sink in. So Tucker spoke on it more. "Why don't you see how you feel about it on a…triple date. Me and Jazz, Kibbon and Danielle, and you and Cecelia." Danny raised an eyebrow. "Well, Danielle's convinced that she and I can sort of help ease it over with the whole Vice situation between Jazz and Garth. She told me about it to keep me in the loop. Maybe we'll get lucky and we'll be able to hatch a plan to help them through it."

"She had always wanted to help Jazz but I didn't think she'd go that far." He laughed.

Tucker laughed, as usual because nothing could keep him down for long. "Well she would tend to disagree and she's arranged a double date. A triple would be fun but a quadruple would be even better, like if Wenn was dating someone…"

"Wenn has Tara. But they're not dating. They've got a lot to think about right now so the last thing they need is to be bugged."

"Ohhhh yeeeeaaaah. But he doesn't seem to be attracted to her in any way, man. I think he'd kill us if we tried to set him up. Besides, I have no way to contact him now since he never replied to any texts I sent him about any of our group get-togethers."

Danny nodded. "Yeah, he must have gotten a new number because that's my case too. I just hope he doesn't think we're all excluding him."

Tucker scoffed. "Naaaah. He's never shown much of an interest in wanting to be included, right?"

"That's true." Danny said agreeably.

"So how about you and Cecelia come join us and make it a triple?"

"Oh…hey, why not." Danny shrugged. "I'm willing to try it."

"Great! But here's another thought for you: I think you should _propose_ on the triple date. It'd be perfect. She wouldn't say no. She COULDN'T say no." Danny's face flushed all of a sudden. What was a guy to do? Tucker was right, as awkward as it made Danny to admit it to himself. It _was_ the perfect opportunity. "Just ask her out tonight, get a ring by Saturday night, and…go for it! Come on, don't get cold feet. You're daring enough to battle ghostly monsters thirty times your size and walk away unscathed. Why does one little girl scare you?"

Danny stammered. "A-a-are you sure it won't be awkward? I mean, you, Danielle, Kibbon, and Jazz might feel weird if I pulled out a ring box and got down on my knee…in front of _all_ of you…it's not as nerve-racking to do something in front of a crowd of people I'm never going to see again, but you guys are going to be in my life forever. There's no "living it down" if I decide to make a scene and it'll be largely embarrassing for the both of us if she turns me down. Not to mention that it'll be putting a lot of pressure on her too."

"No. No, we won't think any less of you." Tucker laughed some more at Danny's cluelessness. "_Believe me_, everybody already knows how much you two love each other. I don't want to rush you, buddy, but, you do realize that any day now the Tossi are going to launch an attack on the ghost zone and that's going to change all our lives and it may pull you and Cecelia apart if you're not together at the start of it."

"Wenn made that prediction about the war a _long_ time ago. It never happened. You're still buying it? You trust his gut feeling, even though you're terrified of him?"

"Terrified? Yes. Trust? Hmmm, sometimes. Think about it, Danny. _That's_ why ghosts haven't shown up in the human realm anymore. It's not Team Phantom scaring them off; it's the Tossi—the people who really _can_ shut them down for good. Only a fool wouldn't fear them. And Angel Academy's going to be left defenseless for their own battles against the raving mad species of the dark who want revenge because of all the prejudice."

"But there is no prejudice…people have every reason to be scared of species of the dark."

"We'd need to be at the heart of the battle because we're some of the most experienced ghost fighters in the country and we have Tossi experience and inside information."

"Precisely. So _when_—not _if_—_when_ things start getting tight, don't you want to have your first love at your side?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Actually, Paulina was my first love." Tucker gave him a flat look. "But I'll go along with what you said for the sake of a poetic line."

Tucker continued. "Everyone else has started pairing off. First Star and Kwan, then Larrow and Shadase…and now Dash is back dating Paulina again as I heard from Danielle…Bob even tells me that he's been trying to see Valerie on the weekends. See, everyone subconsciously just _knows_ that they don't have much time left to live lives as normal people."

"I know, I know." Fate of the world—no big deal. But the lives of his friends and even his own personal life…sometimes Danny didn't know how to shift gears like that, but he was learning, and fast.

"What I'm saying is that you might not have a chance at her once we get into the heat of the battle. I talked to Garth the other day and he just had a feeling that something bad was going to happen. Like a bad omen. See, it's not just Wenn getting these ideas—it's something in the air. I just don't want you to miss out on the same kind of happiness that I have found with Jazz." Tucker started walking for the door since it was getting a little late in the afternoon. "That's all I have to say. Goodbye. And…please do try to make the right choices, old buddy. Take my words to heart. We all care about your future so you should too."

Danny thought long and hard about his friend's words even after he was gone. The adult life was not like college or high school anymore with new news every week and groups of friends hanging out all the time, responsibility-free, and just enjoying each other. For several minutes, he just sat there on the couch, thinking about how much life would change if he married Cecelia. He might be in a completely different place several months from now! That would be good for him, since being a single bachelor all by himself in a house was getting lonely.

That night, Danny let himself drift into a jewelry store. He took a few moments to browse the rings that were presented before his big blue eyes. It didn't hurt to just _look_, right? Money was no object for him. He even considered making a purchase. Before he knew it, he was down ten grand and there was a little white box in his pocket carrying precious cargo. It happened so fast and he even surprised himself that he did it. Immediately his heart began to race, but this was a good feeling. It was the euphoric thought of a lifelong commitment.

"What am I doing? I don't even know what to say to her!" A proposal and ring without the perfect romantic endeavors was sadly, _useless_. Danny tried to think back to the day Tucker had proposed to Jazz. Tucker was finally ready to lead a household and that's why he felt it was the right time. Helping Tucker and Jazz settle in to their new house was a wonderful excuse for a little reunion among friends of sorts. Pretty much all the members of their tight-knit group had showed up at one point—Danny, Tucker, Jazz, Danielle, Garth, Cecelia, Kibbon, Wenn, Dash, Paulina…even Tekairo, Valerie, Sam, and Larrow.

However, the part that Danny remembered most about his big sister's wedding was that Cecelia had worn this sparking snowy dress—so breathtaking. One month later and Danny still remembered the image perfectly. He hadn't been the one to dance with her though. Wenn had gotten the honors at the time, unfortunately. He'd never outgrow his selfish and sneaky nature. It was too much a part of him already.

_That devious little punk_, Danny thought to himself once more as he was walking home. Then he took in a deep breath and calmed himself. He knew getting over the shock that Cecelia had dated Wenn was a good thing and Wenn didn't mean anything by one harmless action. At least not from the clueless one's point of view, he didn't. The only person who really knew what Wenn was doing was Wenn himself—not even Larrow anymore.


	8. Chapter 8: Phantom Love Story

**Chapter 8: "Phantom Love Story"**

Somewhere along the line, Wenn and Cecelia had split up. Some detail didn't work quite right there, so they ended it. Danny didn't have the gall to ask Cecelia why because it might be a sore subject and he didn't want to risk it. He was grateful enough to be dating her once more. The evening sky was a peaceful purplish-indigo which relaxed Danny a bit as he pondered more romantic endeavors of his friends. Danny wondered if Garth would ever rebuild his relationship Angelina.

Even though Garth wasn't doing so well, Danny knew relationships could be restored if both sides tried. Garth was intelligent, and he was strong and careful enough to protect her. So what could possibly have gone wrong? Danny might never know…until it was too late. The days flipped by. Before Danny knew it, it was time for the big date. The six friends were going to meet at a restaurant called Alia's. It was a very cool place to go in the summer. A candlelight dinner with a lakeside view was undeniable and irresistible. The food was exotic and spicy—prone to enchant taste buds now but unnerve the intestines later.

Everybody came separately and they met like more of a group than a trio of dates. Tucker and Jazz were the first to arrive. Next were Kibbon and Danielle who arrived in Kibbon's car. Kibbon was wearing his typical beanie and scarf even though it was still warm out. He still had his hair dyed blood red but he lost the black tips and his hair was a bit shorter now and looked like a mop.

Danielle flounced over in a fashionably cute pink lace dress that really stood out against her light skin. She had pink leather high heel boots to match. Her black hair was medium length and wavy, styled nicely. She had royal purple makeup on that made her eyes look much bigger than they naturally were. Shortly afterword's was when Danny came. Cecelia was the last to arrive. They were lucky to get seated by six o'clock.

Their table consisted of six beach chairs, a tiki cobana overhead, a beach table, an umbrella, and three candles. _How quaint_, Danny thought to himself, _the setting is ideal and perfect for me to propose_. The lighting was dim which set a sophisticated mood as well. The girls sat on one side and the boys on the other so that each person was facing their date.

Danielle and Kibbon held hands over the table; the oh-so-typical behavior of a young couple that started to get annoying to the public after a while, but they'd keep doing it so long as they wanted to and sometimes just to annoy their friends. Danny and Cecelia took this time to chat casually.

Danielle was looking to become a secretary for Angel Academy if her application was accepted, and maybe even be Kibbon's Vice down the line. It was still a bit of a shocker to all of them that Kibbon would be taking over Garth's position as the Principle of Angel Academy after Garth had only been in office for a short while. Danielle and Kibbon figured it would be couture for her to be Vice, and since she was cadulan and the sister of Danny Phantom, the idea was likely to be approved and even welcomed by the board.

Both of them were so happy and cute together. Jazz was not jealous of her sister requesting the very same position she had gotten declined on, but rather, Jazz was happy about it. Danny smiled in full faith that things for his friends and family would turn out alright. After all, friends becoming family was one of the coolest things Danny had witnessed in his entire life. _Family._ _Relationships_. _Proposing_. _The ring_. Danny FORGOT the ring! It was still sitting on the arm of his favorite chair. Just where he had left it. At home!

Danny smiled awkwardly at Cecelia. She had no clue. He was lucky she had no idea how big of a goof-up he was. No matter how much fun his friends were having, Danny realized he wouldn't be able to enjoy the date after he'd made such a childish mistake. The food was excellent though. The special was some kind of Hawaiian seafood. The six friends feasted on lobster, crab, shrimp and seaweed. Even when they were completely full, they still managed to eat more. And then they went each to their own homes.

When Danny opened the front door to his house, he flipped on the lights. The first thing he noticed was that ring box. He felt like everything was a waste. Just a few hours ago—that was the perfect time to propose. And he had let it pass. He let it slip from his mind. How could he be so careless? Whenever Danny made mistakes that affected other people, he was really hard on himself. What if he never got a second chance?

The next morning, Danny was debating whether or not to go to Cecelia's house and propose. Maybe that would be too cheesy. Yeah. Cecelia deserved better than that. Maybe he could take her out to the beach? That's the winner! He dialed her number as fast as possible. "Hey, Cecelia, are you busy?" He asked.

"No." She answered. "Should I be?"

He grinned. "Yeah. How'd you like to go to Hampton Beach this afternoon?"

She laughed slightly. "…I think I'd like that." Danny spent the next half hour getting ready. He made sure the ring was in the pocket of his blue swim trunks. He took a shower, and then put on his anti-perspirant. Then he thought that he put on too much so he took another shower and put on less this time. By then it was two o'clock. Danny drove to Jazz and Cecelia's house. He knocked on the door and she opened it since Jazz was not home at the moment.

Cecelia was wearing her swimsuit top and a pair of jean shorts. She had a volleyball tucked under her arm. She had a cute yellow bag with a sun on it and a pair of black sunglasses. She hopped into Danny's car and gave him a kiss as they drove off. This might have been the one moment Danny was not content with the car that he had. He wanted a Camaro or a convertible so that he could roll down the windows and let the hot summer air blow in.

Danny parked his car. He was wearing blue swim trunks that matched his eyes. His shirt was white and he'd only take it off when he was ready to go into the water. Danny and Cecelia held hands as they walked onto the beach. Danny pushed together two beach chairs and a little table. Cecelia decided she wanted to play beach volleyball with him and she started loading up on the sunscreen. Danny tried to make small talk but it was hard to relate anything to the subject he was trying to get at. He knew he couldn't start off the conversation with the "I know we've been dating for a while, and…" So he dug his toes into the sand as they bumped a beach ball back and forth easily.

"So why the sudden interest in the beach? I know you usually burn instead of tan, and you don't like that much." She almost laughed a little.

Danny hesitated. "Well, I know _you_ like the beach." He said softly. He smiled sweetly. She kissed him on the cheek. "And I like you…so, therefore _I_ like the beach." For a while, they just played volleyball there, taking about what their friends were doing. Most of their dates were more exciting than this. Sometimes Danny would give her a ride around the block in his phantom form. Danny thought the beach would be a more "serious" place where he could talk to his girl. "So how's Valerie been?" Danny asked, trying to get some kind of conversation going though he didn't know exactly what he was doing here.

"She's been through some tough family drama. But she's holding up and it's working out. How are Tucker and your sister settling in? I thought it would be awkward to call since they're probably spending a lot of time with each other, but you're family, so you should know."


	9. Chapter 9: Verge of War

**Chapter 9: "Verge of War"**

"Gee, I'm finally getting used to the fact that both of my sisters are married off." Danny said with a smile.

Cecelia let out a big laugh. "Yeah, but I'm glad they were able to tie the knot."

"Tie the knot?" Danny started to sweat a little. He couldn't let Cecelia know how nervous he was. Danny tried _so_ hard to be suave. That just wasn't possible on a day like today, a beautiful, beachside summer day. "Yeah, it's weird how they seem like they've got it all figured out." He held her hand. She accepted.

Cecelia nodded. "How are your parents?"

"Well, ya know they still live in that same house. I'm glad I moved out. How is your dad?"

"Well, he's got a lot of job pressuring down in D.C. He's running into a bit of an inventors' block."

"Ah." Danny took a sip from his water bottle. "What are your plans for the future? Gonna be a cheer coach forever?"

"That's a good question. Hmm…" She mused. "Don't know. But there's time. There's always time." Memories of fighting ghosts and dragons and Tossi came to Danny's mind. In all of those memories, Cecelia was right there with him. She stood by his side with Tucker and their other friends and helped him defend this town, this city, this country, and this world.

Cecelia was there when he made an alliance with the Masters' Blasters team—Vid, Thrash and Download. Cecelia was the flower girl at Danielle and Tucker's wedding. Cecelia was the first one to hear about Danny's job promotions. She was the last voice he heard at might when she gave him a goodnight call. "I think I know what you can do with the rest of your life…" He spoke up, finally knowing he had found the right line.

"…What's that?" She almost bit her lip. She couldn't bear to move her eyes away off of his.

Danny fingered his hair. He didn't know what else to say! "You know I love you, right?"

"Of course…"

"And you love me?"

"Definitely…"

"So…"

"So…"

"Will you marry me, Cecelia?"

Danny pulled out the ring from his pocket. Cecelia's eyes started watering. "Oh my gosh! Yes!" She put it on her finger and threw her arms around him and kissed him. She loved him _so_ much. She'd loved him for so long…and now this was _finally happening_! That night Cecelia didn't know who to call first. She talked to a whole bunch of people including her father, sister, cousin, and several friends like Paulina, Valerie, and Tekairo. It was Danny who got to tell his parents of course, and Tucker, Jazz, Garth, Sam, and Danielle. Both he and Cecelia had texted Wenn, but he replied to neither of them.

And so, almost immediately, the packing process had begun for Cecelia. Danny and Cecelia both wanted their engagement to be short and the wedding to come quick. They agreed that it would be best for her to move into his house, since it was a very good starter home anyways aside from being the dream house that he didn't want to move from.

Everything was all sensationally new again. Cecelia thought going to _Japan_ was a new realm of life…well so was the married life! The adult life was far more thrilling than Cecelia had ever pictured as a child. When he was younger, Danny always thought one day he'd magically turn into some boring adult, but that wasn't the case yet. Good luck had followed him so far. Life was perfect. What could go wrong?

About two weeks after the proposal, Jazz and Tucker were hanging out in the local courtyard area of Amity Park when a familiar blond face showed up. Tucker was just about to kiss Jazz when he recognized the young man whose shadow blocked the sun. "Wenn?" Tucker was so surprised to see the old friend that he let down his guard.

"Team Phantom is still in it all for _justice_, right? Beating the bad guy? Being the heroes? Yeah, I may not be around a lot anymore, with having to deal with Tara and moving back and forth between my human world home and the house I've been sharing with Larrow? Not to mention the fact that I know the Tossi are planning to invade the ghost zone in the next few years. They want that realm for themselves and they want to eradicate or enslave all of the ghosts in it."

"For real?!" Tucker exclaimed. He whistled. "We've…we've gotta do something! Wait…you're not with them, are you?"

"No, no." Wenn said casually. "I'd of thought you knew me better than that by now. I'm telling you this because I know you guys will do something to stoop it and I want my future wife and I to be a part of it. We've got a lot to offer, with me being psychic and her having already gone through almost six years of medical school. She could be our official doctor, that is, if you let her into Team Phantom."

"This is nice and all, but have you talked to Danny yet?" Tucker asked. "He is always…"

"The final say, I know. But no, I'm coming to you guys first with this. I've gotta, er, get back to the Tossi realm soon so I was hoping you'd get the word out to everyone. Also, I know Danny proposed now, thanks to you, Tucker." Tucker was silent. "That reminds me…I have a little business of my own I have to take care of."

"Maybe we can warn the ghost zone…" Tucker said to himself.

"No, there's no time." Wenn warned. "The war's going to start sometime in these next four years. The best you can do right now is to get the whole team in communication and work on a plan." Wenn explained. "Build weapons, but property in the ghost zone, that is, if you care at all about saving it."

"A _peace_ plan." Jazz added. "Danny would want to save as much as he can. It looks like we're going to need all the help we can get."

"But what about the wedding?" Tucker interrupted. "Danny and Cecelia's wedding? Jazz, you have certainly not forgotten that your own brother is getting married in less than two weeks from now…"

"In times like these, they might have to postpone the wedding. But it's their call. The Tossi emperor leaves no stone unturned. He wants to conquer the ghost zone. This war's definitely going to last for months, maybe _years_."

"Years?!" Jazz and Tucker exclaimed in unison.

Wenn nodded. He remembered the Tossi emperor Astin's face when he commanded all members of their species to join him on the conquest to build a new future for themselves and expand their empire. Wenn explained how he, Tara, Larrow, Shadase, Syron, Avonai, Preston, Niki, and Kitto would all be staying behind. "Gosh I don't even know who all of those people are…" Tucker stated. "But there's gotta be time for the wedding…"

Wenn shrugged. "Impossible to say. I just don't want you to say you weren't warned."

"Paulina's the bridesmaid, and she and Cecelia have been working very hard on these wedding plans. Paulina will be very upset if there's a change in the date. And Danny's not going to be too happy either." Jazz thought aloud.

"I know. And I'm his best man!" Tucker said, worried. He turned to Wenn. "_After_ the wedding. We'll do everything _after_ the wedding."

Wenn shook his head. "Waiting isn't a good idea. By the time the whole team finally gets in there, severe damage could already be done."

"This is going to take some serious planning out." Jazz said.

"What are we going to say to Danny? That's what I'm wondering about." Tucker said. "Wenn, you're coming too. You introduced us to this new life-changing scenario. You're not going to get out of an explanation this easy." Wenn sighed.


	10. Chapter 10: Leadership Roles

**Chapter 10: "Leadership Roles"**

Everyone in the current Team Phantom made an emergency meeting at Garth's house that night. Garth, Danny, Cecelia, Jazz, Tucker, Danielle, Dash, Paulina, Wenn, and Kibbon gathered around a great brown oak table. Tucker was grateful that everyone was here to represent. Wenn stood up and started explaining all that he knew. He said that in the afternoon, he had a certain peace about it; a feeling that they still had time to take action.

Danielle and Wenn did most of the talking. Tucker was gnawing on the snacks, but he popped into the story every so often. As Wenn described the Tossi's way of doing battle in great detail, a disgusted expression appeared on Kibbon's face. But everyone came to a unanimous vote then that the wedding would take place after all. They just had to be very careful about their planning. Danny proposed that with everyone looking out for each other and being cautious, things should work out fine. Everyone just had to pitch in and start making weapons and anti-ghost shields in the meantime.

The plan at bay was to work on arms as of now, and then in a few years, eventually purchase property in the ghost zone to use as an official Team Phantom headquarters. Saving up the money would take years and help from all the members as well as honorary members, but it would be worth it.

Danny took the whole thing rather well—that was why he was in charge. "After the wedding it is." He decreed. "After the wedding, we're building up to something big." Then he took suggestions from the group as other ways to prepare for the war, making lists and such that he would later type out and email to them.

"Alright." Wenn decided to tell them he was giving in. They smiled as his assurance that he had their trust. He was going to head back to his apartment, and later that night, visit the Tossi realm with a little box that had a ring in it and propose to Tara. Wenn knew his chances at Cecelia were all but gone and that was for the best. He would like to have thought he could have won her back if he wanted to, but he did the noble thing and let her go by choice.

Danny and Cecelia were a perfect match for each other but Wenn knew about his habits to want to boss her around all the time. Wenn liked being in control. While she would go along with it if she truly loved him, she was far better off with Danny…and so was the world. Wenn entered the Tossi realm single and returned to the human realm…_espoused_.

Meanwhile, Danny was being spoiled by his parents and relatives. Danny had a feeling that his father was actually surprised that someone had agreed to marry him. Danny had almost forgotten that to his parents he was just a normal kid with his "head in the stars" so to speak. But to the world that mattered to him, Danny was special. The secret about his ghost powers that he had kept for ten years now was probably one he'd keep from them for the rest of their lives. If he had kept it this long, he wasn't going to step out and reveal himself now. In between checking his email and answering phone calls or texts, he was tidying up and getting rid of things to make room for Cecelia.

Tucker was supposed to come over and help him clean up tomorrow. Danny was all alone in his house currently and starting to get nervous whereas he hadn't been nervous about this at all much. Now he was starting to second-guess his ability to be a good husband and full-time leader with more things than just a team of heroes. He wanted the house to be spotless, organized, and perfect. Tucker and Jazz's home was a quaint, shingled one-bedroom one-story.

They didn't need much space for just the two of them but they had their guest bedroom always open to whoever might need it. They liked to spend their money on high quality furniture and appliances rather than buying a large house with room that they didn't need. They were happily married, though for one problem. Tucker's parents came over a lot and insisted on cooking for them. Neither Tucker nor Jazz were great cooks, but they didn't like how clingy Maurice and Angela Foley were acting. Tucker didn't want to be rude though, since he was their only child and knew his parents missed having him around.

Tucker and his cousin Bob were on better terms than they were as adolescents, which led to Bob visiting Tucker's house once or twice for dinner. One time he even brought Valerie, which was odd, since there was a strange disconnect there among them. Tucker and Danielle had never exactly befriended Valerie herself but Danny and Cecelia did…and Danny and Cecelia weren't here. So needless to say, it was a weird dinner. But nothing really out of the ordinary happened at Tucker's house.

Tucker was glad to be the CEO of his own technology company which was only growing with the number of techno geek friends he had and their friends too. Suppliers and customers were increasing and Tucker was being very selfless in his priorities. He sacrificed a lot of time for the good of the company. He even had Jazz put in charge of creating the anti-ghost technology on the side, to be kept secret from other companies, of course. Life was productive.

Over the course of the week, Garth was working on official Angel Academy business between back and forth going to the dragon realm in the ghost zone because the dragon Prince Lyon had wanted his help with things. In the ghost zone, Garth was undergoing a severe change in his life as well as his friends Danny and Cecelia. It had turned out that Lyon was getting tired of the pace of being the ruler of the medieval dragon realm. Being a humble ghost, Lyon stepped down and granted Garth the opportunity to become the new Prince.

_Prince Garth_—had a nice ring to it, right? However, Garth had to decline because of his current role at Angel Academy which he was about to step down from. Lyon said that was alright, but if Garth were to ever reconsider, the spot would be open for him always. Garth kept it in the back of his mind that he wanted to end up in that position someday, he just didn't know how or when. One night, he finally got few hours to take a breather at his own house in between all of this stress. He had so much on his plate but he'd never ask for help; he insisted he could handle it all. He saw that Jazz had called and asked if she could come over, just to talk with him. He texted her with the affirmative permission.

Almost immediately upon her arrival, Garth started explaining to Danny over the phone about how he had just received the incredible opportunity to be leader of the dragon islands. Danny was marginally shocked as Garth knew he would be, but he actually wasn't. Ever since a wish granted by a wishing ghost had been made to turn Lyon good, Garth had almost expected Lyon to ask him to take over his place one day. He just hadn't expected it to come so quick.

Lyon's rule had only lasted eight or nine years, and most dragon Princes ruled for fifty years or a lifetime. Garth explained how he wasn't ready to give up his life yet and Danny took this as a negative sign but didn't say anything. Through it all, he talked to Danny more like a coworker rather than a friend.

Some of their other friends, once they were told about this event, remained obstinately against the whole thing. They worried for him. This led to one dispute after another the moment he got home. It was kind of an in-the-moment sort of thing. Garth found himself smiling every time he was caught up in it all. He wanted his friends to believe it was good. But it was not going to happen for at least a year because Garth wanted to have just a little more time with Angel Academy. Garth was slightly bummed when he got the reply from the board that his request for Jazz had declined. They wouldn't let her in.


	11. Chapter 11: Between Two Worlds

**Chapter 11: "Between Two Worlds"**

One day, Wenn was walking through the area of Amity Park where some of the Tossi used to live and had built their longstanding Tossi homes here in the human realm. But that was almost a decade ago now. The place was a deserted town. All the Tossi had moved back to the realm, most likely to pool their skills and resources for the upcoming war. Wenn teleported to the realm to visit Tara at her parents' house. She was packing to love into Wenn's apartment with him as soon as they got married.

The Tossi realm might be her familial heritage, but the human realm was really the only place Tara could ever really know as home. Tara's parents never liked her much. She was starting to act more excitable like a girlier girl, much in contrast to the stone wall front she put up when she first met Wenn. The houses in the Tossi realm were the same as always—tall, black and narrow. All the windows were closed up to discourage pedestrians from being nosy. Tara's parents were more than glad to have Wenn as their son-in-law.

Wenn just was lucky that both of Tara's parents were electrics, or else they would have known that he wasn't really in love with Tara but that he was still in love with…never mind. From Tara's parents' home, Wenn headed up to the place where the Tossi emporer and Wenn's somewhat distant cousin, Astin Lestri, made his living. Wenn could identify with the house that belonged to Astin.

Astin was a psychic Tossi, so he saw Wenn approaching the front doorstep. One of Astin's servants opened the door. He let Wenn pass. Wenn didn't speak a word. He was cautious, though; having been used to fighting his way through everything. Astin was in the middle of being massaged by one of his servants when Wenn approached. "You're still planning to destroy the ghost zone…and I don't think you should do that, Astin." Wenn said warningly.

Astin's calmness in the matter was sickening. He must be cold-blooded indeed. "You know full well that I never had any intention of destroying it because I want it as my new home." Astin had a gruff, deep voice that sounded almost inhuman. "I mean, for us, Wenn. For the entire Tossi species. The ghost zone is vast and intriguing and seemingly infinite, unlike our limited realm. So why would you ask such a question? How could you possibly not see it the way I do?"

"If you destroy the ghosts, you destroy their home." Wenn said sternly. He hated to admit out loud that he had started to become more human in his reasoning. "It's as simple as that. You should probably leave the whole thing alone. _Don't_ underestimate them."

Astin chuckled. "Oh, you and your little Team Phantom are no match for my electrics. You're dreaming if you want to fight a war against us." Wenn grimaced. "My father let you leave our realm out of the sake of bloodline. But a surname means little to me. My father may have raised you, but thanks to you he's gone now." That arrogant voice showed no sympathy and no remorse for having lost his father and been in on the plot to kill him. "You are free to go and live in the human realm, ghost zone, Desintirde, whatever. I don't _care_; I'll let you and your fiancée go, and maybe your two friends and their wives if you are lucky. The rest have a duty to me—the very same duty you disowned long ago when you first left for the human world."

Wenn scoffed. "As if I needed your permission…"

"But as for the rest of our race," He cut him off, "We are going to purge that realm of its ghostly inhabitants. We're tired of our people being stuck in the Tossi realm and the human world. Both realms have its limitations! But the ghost zone is full of amazing and powerful things! There will be no end to the treasures that we find!"

Wenn glowered. "Treasures that aren't yours."

Astin growled. "There is time. You'll see. In a few years, many of our young electrics will have matured to the fighting age."

"Fighting age? You're going to send children out into a battlefield and they're going to _die_ there! Don't pretend you don't know how seriously outnumbered the Tossi are compared to the ghosts! The war is already over and it hasn't even started yet. You'll lose."

Astin smirked. "On the contrary, the fun is just about to begin. Lives may be lost, but it's a risk that the Tossi people are willing to take for the future of our race. It's time we stepped up to fill a greater position in the world."

"You disgust me. You're going to lose!"

Astin sighed. "Your redundancy is starting to bore me…good day."

"Good day." Wenn said through clenched teeth. At least he left the palace with the definite assurance that the actual attacks wouldn't start up till years in the future. In fact the Tossi seemed just as unprepared for this as the ghost zone did. In time, Wenn got the news circulating through Team Phantom so they would know and actually start warning the ghost zone to brace themselves.

Wenn would have done the warning himself, but he knew ghosts wouldn't believe a Tossi. There was no stopping the Tossi, unfortunately, which is what Wenn was there to find out. He was disheartened at this, and knew that there would be deeper pain to come. As the outcast went back to his apartment that night, he felt very alone. He never thought of this apartment as his home. He didn't even know _what_ to call home anymore.

It was only when he went back into the evils of that palace that he realized just how much he had changed. He _used_ to be one of them, and now, he had become more "human" in a way. He realized the ugly evils of his youth and was disgusted with his childhood self. He had never before told a lie that people didn't believe. And this would be his motivation for making peace once the war started—he didn't want to see anyone else turn evil from this the way he was evil as a child.

Over the phone, Wenn and Tara discussed how they would live in his apartment only for the first however many years till the war in the ghost zone started. Then they would move there. Wenn was glad that Tara obliged to the way he wanted things. He liked being the boss. As he lie there in his bed, sleepless all night, he was beginning to think maybe his marriage wouldn't be so terrible after all. She was easy to manipulate—a fitting pawn for him.

Tara Richter had purple eyes and hair that was black with brown streaks. Wenn wasn't sure how natural the color was since Tara often had it dyed somewhere between black and brown. She was always serious, decisive, and straight to the point. She had secret dreams she kept hidden from people but she seemed willing to share them with Wenn in time. Tara wasn't nearly as cold as people thought she was but she was rather just reserved. Wenn wanted to use her admiration for him to make her into a better asset for Team Phantom, as he had a feeling they would need a doctor on their side when things got bloody


	12. Chapter 12: Kiss The Bride

**Chapter 12: "Kiss the Bride"**

It was time for Danny to prepare for something he had been waiting for his whole life—his wedding! Danny and Cecelia were aware that they'd have a couple of years to settle down together before they had to start preparing for the war. It would go by fast, which they knew, but they, like their friends, were prepared to make the most of it. And the day…was here! Everyone who knew Danny Fenton AND Danny Phantom had been preparing for this wedding.

Everyone wanted to see, from near and far, including distant relatives. Cecelia hadn't heard from the Endersons in a long time but was glad at least one of them would be attending. Related through her late mother, the Enderson couple Roderick and Kathryn with their boys Kayter, Tilly, and Train were Cecelia's cousins. They were seven and nine years younger than Cecelia—Tilly and Train were twins. Train was the only one among them who would be attending.

Even the local news people were going to be at the wedding to cover the big commotion that townspeople were making of it. Ghosts had overshadowed guests just to be in and others who attended intangibly just to watch what would be forever known as a historic event. Danny knew that was going to happen—all the crashers, that is—but as long as they were not attacking, he had no reason to get all worked up about it and fear having to combat them.

Vlad was among the ghosts that attended uninvited, and he had chosen to overshadow Jack—no surprise. Danny had predicted that, which was why his father was assigned to dance with one of his aunts instead of Maddie, who was assigned to dance with Cecelia's father. With the full onslaught of summer in high gear, a breeze of pollen blew through the air. Danny and Cecelia's home on Daren Street was so clean that it sparkled. The living room couch was where all the gifts were placed. It was full.

The real party was outside, on the beach. Well, it was a community lake technically but for all novelty purposes, Danny and Cecelia thought of it as a beach, since it was such a romantic notion to get married on the beach. They had rented a buffet table and three hundred chairs. But that still probably wouldn't be enough with all the crashers. The minister was brimming with happiness when the bride walked up the aisle, with a long strapless white dress and a full bouquet of white and red roses. This was the longest that Cecelia's hair had ever been. She wore it down, with a little curl at the very end. Her dark brown hair swayed at her hips as she walked onwards in the poofy dress.

On her left side was her father, Mortimer. He was crying. On Cecelia's right side was her father-in-law and mother in-law, Jack and Maddie Fenton. And then there was Jazz Fenton, with her orange hair cut short in a bob. Her headband matched her teal dress and she took her glasses off to wipe a tear that was falling down her cheek. Danielle was standing next to her with her hair up in a ponytail and a very slimming silver dress. Beside her was Anni, Cecelia's twin, who was smiling and tearing up with joy.

Tucker was the Best Man of course, and he stood with Danny. Tucker's glasses were fogging up. Nothing had even really happened yet but he was already bawling. Danny found this amusing. Tucker's suit was dark green and perfectly ironed because he had ironed it about twelve times last night. Next to him on the guys' side were the other men to match the amount of girls. Jazz was of course paired with Tucker and Danielle with Kibbon, but Anni was paired with Garth. Danny had originally given the third slot to Wenn if he wanted it, but he wasn't all that sure about Wenn coming so he gave it to someone who would be there for sure.

Everyone was here from Cecelia's friends from her middle school to her and Danny's high school friends. Dash, Paulina, Kwan, Star, Valerie, Tekairo, Larrow, Preston, Niki, Wenn, Tara, and Sam were all sitting in the two foremost rows, all smiling actually. Cecelia hadn't even noticed he was there yet. But Danny was impressed that Wenn had chosen to be the bigger man and come to the wedding.

And the most perfect part of all was Danny standing up there wearing a white tux that matched the hue of Cecelia's long bride's gown. Cecelia steadied herself on the grass right across from where Danny stood. Birds were chirping and butterflies flitted about. The sun was in their eyes, so they squinted. The beach waves were to their right, not too far away. The minister stepped up and began reading a long line of marriage vows. Cecelia and Danny joined hands. "I do." Danny said.

"I do." Cecelia echoed.

"I now pronounce you man and wife. Then you may kiss the bride." In all of this time, the white-haired minister never lost his smile. Danny held Cecelia in his arms and he kissed her. That was where Tucker started bawling even more and Jazz had to pat his shoulder to calm him down. Valerie cried a little. Wenn smiled at first and then looked away for the kissing part.

Dash and Paulina were probably thinking that would be them in not too long. Sam smiled, happy for the newlyweds. Garth was emotionless, as usual, but part of all of this made him subconsciously distressed about wanting to find a girl before he was middle-aged and he worried a little that he might not find one. He was already feeling indirectly pressured, with pretty much all of his friends hooking up with somebody except Jazz or Sam.

Jack and Maddie were the first to give their son a hug after he'd been hitched. Then Mortimer hugged his daughter. Anni squeezed Cecelia tightly. "Mrs. Cecelia Fenton." Cecelia squealed to her friends Paulina and Tekairo. They enthused with her and for once she felt like old times when she was super close to them and used to fangirl over things with them.

Garth had managed to keep his emotions bottled up which was no surprise but he gave Danny a very heartfelt handshake. Danny knew he had to be very careful and more poised than normal because the news was here. They weren't here because he was Danny Phantom—because the world still had yet to know. But rather it was because so many members of Team Phantom and Team Prism were here, that everyone in Amity Park wanted to watch the wedding from the comfort of their own homes.

Danny just had to remain composed, as did his friends, because most of them had powers…and not everybody was okay with the world knowing they had powers. The fact that their wedding had gotten to be such a big event that it was displayed on public television was the least of the newlywed's worries right now. Wenn felt so very out of place in the whole thing. He didn't know alot of these people, but they all knew each other. And they were all so friendly, so outgoing.

Wenn almost wished he could just slip away, out of embarrassment. He was annoyed with how many ghosts had crashed—dozens of people were overshadowed. All humans. Wenn thought that the ghosts got lucky because if they had picked any of his friends, they would have to deal with _him_. Danny carried Cecelia down the aisle—she was barefoot because she couldn't decide on the right shoes to get married in.

While people were chatting, Danny and Cecelia slipped away somewhere private where he changed into his ghost zone, picked her up, turned the two of them intangible, and they flew around town. They could see the world but the world could not see them. It was so romantic, so perfect. It was not long before they returned to the scene of their wedding and talked and danced for hours.

Then around dinner time, people began to leave. Danny's friends and family took care of the whole cleanup situation. Jazz had a key to his house and Danielle could just phase in, so it was no problem taking care of things. Danny had rented a limo to take him and Cecelia off to their honeymoon vacation that started in Florida but would include some tropical island visits as well in the time


	13. Chapter 13: Another Step

**Chapter 13: "Another Step"**

While the new couple was gone, Danielle, Kibbon, and Tucker promised to keep up the house and the mail for them. The honeymoon was going to last three weeks. Danny had a good job, so he could afford to take long vacations once a year at the least. It was amazing. By nightfall, they were on their way to the exotic world of the airport and then the lovely honeymoon could begin. Meanwhile, the guests were still having a ball at the wedding after party. Jazz knew she'd be the one cleaning up most of the mess as well as washing the dishes, but she didn't want to ruin anything by complaining.

What Danny and Cecelia's true love inspired was Wenn to realize he needed to move on. He couldn't stay sitting on the fence for long. So during the honeymoon was when he and Tara had their wedding. Wenn's wedding was held in the Tossi realm and it was small. Team Phantom and Team Prism members who were not Tossi were not invited. Wenn wanted to keep it simple and he didn't want any problems. Tara's family, Larrow, Shadase, Preston, Kitto, Syron, and Niki all attended but very few came that outside of those people and their families.

Wenn thought it felt weird not having his friends around, but he felt this was the way it needed to be. He texted them later on. "By the way…got married a few days ago…it's not a big deal in the Tossi realm like it is for humans because we all know it is coming." But that was only a partial truth. Weddings were a big deal to the friends and family affected, though Wenn's wedding was not a big deal to him or at least he acted like it wasn't. He often used the excuse 'It isn't a big deal to Tossi' about anything he didn't want his human-world friends to overreact from.

He texted Garth and he told Tucker, and then he texted Danielle, Kibbon, and Jazz about it, asking them to not be offended and not overreact about not being invited. They handled it better than he expected, which was a relief. By then, Wenn and Tara were officially moved in to his apartment and she really felt at home in it. _She might make a good partner and friend_, Wenn considered as he saw her happily unpacking, _but I shall never fall in love again_.

While Danny and Cecelia were having the time of their young lives, soon there would be much to do. They couldn't stay in their own version of reality where everything was wonderful. Eventually they'd have to come back to the world everyone else lived in. The war was coming soon, and they couldn't forget that. Not even for a second. It would be a hard time for everyone. They'd all have to give up their normal lives in Amity Park and move to the ghost zone. They'd be gathering their team from across the globe. Secrets would be outted, new and old. This was the beginning of war.

The year was now 2015. One Friday night in January, while Danny was out with his guy friends, Cecelia was home alone in the house, just cleaning up and re-organizing things. She liked a decorated but tidy house, but was hoping she wasn't becoming a too much of housewife. Her job was doing well though Danny was making almost three times the money as her. In fact her job wasn't paying all that great but because of Danny's money, she didn't have anything to worry about.

They had no desire neither did they have the need to move to a bigger house, so they were just going to stay in this one that they had grown to love despite having the money. They agreed that they'd put the extra money aside for funding Tucker's company's ecto weapons. Tucker didn't want to take money from his best friend, but Danny pushed, and Tucker finally caved. Life was going great for the new Mrs. Fenton, but she felt like something almost had to come along that would mess up this perfect balance.

Cecelia wished she hadn't jinxed it. One day, out of nowhere she felt sick and had to run to the bathroom to throw up. The queasy feeling had been in the back of her throat for days and she was glad to finally let it out. But just to make sure it wasn't something else going on, she decided to put to the test what had been on her mind for the past week. Her period was late. So it was almost certainly going to be…_positive_. She got out a pregnancy test and tested positive, as expected. She did it three more times, all positive.

Her heart was racing indeed, yet she remained very calm. She was going to handle this like an adult. It was part of growing up, right? Somehow she'd pictured this moment more shocking, but it really just felt like the next stage in life. The bigger issue right now was who to tell first. She couldn't decide, so she ended up just waiting for Danny to come home to announce it. She let him get changed out of his work clothes and then after dinner right before they were going to go out to a movie, she broke it to him. "I'm pregnant."

Cecelia was hoping to have an opportunity to make a cleverer quip, but didn't get the chance, and that was okay. Danny was so happy he picked her up and spun her around. Instead of going to the movie, they stayed home and talked about future plans like which room the baby would get, and what names, and prices. Danny mentioned he had just given a rather large check to Tucker, so they couldn't get the most expensive items for their _son_.

Danny was already convinced that it was going to be a boy, because he had always wanted a son. Cecelia found this amusing. She and he started a little bet and she bet that it was going to be a girl. If it ended up being a girl, Cecelia wanted to buy all kinds of frilly tutus and lace dresses for her and paint the room pink and have bows everywhere. But if it was a boy, Danny wanted the bedroom's theme to be spacey things like stars, rockets, and aliens. The bet was SO on.

The next morning, a Saturday, Danny was working on building his secret lab and constructing a ghost portal of his own. But he had his laptop open because he had just sent out an email about Cecelia being pregnant to all his friends, and was receiving replies no end. Eventually he had to stop working on his projects altogether because his friends kept asking questions and he had to repeat the same answer seven or eight times.

Cecelia was receiving call after call, and Danny didn't get nearly as far in his work as he wanted to. But that was a good problem to have! In the big wave of life news being spread along, somehow it reached Danny that Preston and Niki had moved to the Tossi realm and not too long after that, they had a baby girl, who they then named Raven. They were arguing and fighting a lot because they were married now. Niki had just turned twenty and Preston was one year older—they were not at all ready to begin a family, not that they ever would be.

Danny shared that news with Cecelia, and neither of them was surprised to hear it at all. Through a series of texts from Paulina, Cecelia learned that Kwan and Star had received a blessing as well—they had a son named Jarred. Cecelia felt better now knowing that she wasn't the first of her friends who was going to have a baby. If she was, then so much unnecessary attention would be on her and Danny.

And it was going to be hard enough already to keep the press from discovering that Danny Phantom was going to have a child. He had already told them he was married, but didn't say to whom. He just wanted them to keep their noses out of his personal life and to keep women from coming at him. Paulina also mentioned to Cecelia that Dash had officially proposed to her, which Cecelia found predictable but was still happy for them. She passed the news along to Danny, and he was happy as well.

Danny was glad that he was long over his crush on Paulina, since that might have caused a lot of complications. Back in the day, he used to think he'd love her forever, but it faded as he matured and he only cared for her as a friend now. The following summer was a busy one. Friends helped where they could with Paulina's wedding plans. Cecelia didn't get to help as much as she liked, but she did get a lot of photos emailed to her, including ones that Wenn had taken of Preston and Niki's baby, because Cecelia and Danny both really wanted to see that.


	14. Chapter 14: New Addition

**Chapter 14: "New Addition"**

It was late in August when Cecelia started having contractions and had to be rushed into the hospital. She had a bad feeling that summer was over. Danny would have liked to have flown her in quicker, but he had to drive, in his human form. They wanted a quiet birth, not one with the press poking into every little detail. The doctor told Cecelia it was time. Danny wasn't as nervous as he thought he'd be, waiting for the baby to be born, out in the hallway.

Well, he couldn't sit. As his parents, sisters, Kibbon, and Tucker showed up, one last little thought creeped into his mind. _What if the baby was born a ghost?_ He face palmed, how could I have been so stupid to not have thought of this sooner, he asked himself, _why didn't I think of it_?! Now he was starting to get nervous. And it showed on his face. His family members just thought this was the normal reaction, but Danny was starting to realize that he had every reason to be freaking out right now.

Kibbon tried to be his old hyperactive goofy self to try and cheer up the family and get them to focus on his antics instead of worrying about Cecelia and the baby. Kibbon might act like an idiot but he was smarter than he looked. The distraction worked on everybody but Danny who was content to wallow in his own worry. If that baby had so much as one ghostly trait in his appearance…Danny's secret was BLOWN. He just didn't want it to end this way! Not after so long!

Danny's heart was racing violently as he was called into the room to come see the baby. He received it—a son, with pitch black hair and lightly tanned skin which was a color in between Cecelia's and his own. Danny sat down and let out a huge sigh of relief. No green skin, no snow white hair, nothing glowing or out of the ordinary…Danny begun to think his powers might not be genetic after all. Though Cecelia's powers were another matter, hers at least would be able to be covered up.

Danny put the newborn in Cecelia's hands now and he stood beside the bed as his family was allowed in. Cecelia's father showed up at this time. He got misty eyes. But Jack was all-out bawling. And then when Anni came in, she immediately went to the baby and fell in love with it. Now that all the immediate family members were here, a nurse came in with some paperwork for the new parents. She wanted a name to be put on the birth certificate. Cecelia's hands were shaky, so she wanted Danny to fill everything out. "I won the bet." Danny whispered to Cecelia and laughed.

Cecelia smiled. "That means I get to decide on his name then."

Danny shrugged. "Go for it. Remember, it's between Aiden and Thomas."

"Aiden. Aiden Tucker Fenton. I'm sure of it." Tucker blushed, and started crying rather loudly. Danny and Cecelia found this extremely amusing. Tucker didn't know how Jazz, Kibbon, and Danielle were keeping so composed about this, but they were, and it was a funny thing really. The rest of the night was all about the baby. The family members stayed and talked into the late hours of the night.

Tucker and Danielle were the first ones to leave, because they had jobs to get back to, and that reminded Jazz of her own, so she left as well. Kibbon stayed a long while after that and then eventually left as well. One by one as they left, they wished the new parents good luck. It was really late when the paperwork was finally finished, like three in the morning. Danny didn't want to risk driving in that, so when Cecelia and Aiden were given the all clear to go home, he carried them and flew intangibly back into their home.

He would fly back for his car in the morning. But for tonight, they just needed to get settled back in and figure out how to take care of the newest addition to their home. Much later, when the baby finally opened his eyes while Danny was changing him, Danny was in for a big surprise. Aiden's eyes were, indeed, _green_. Danny's own eyes widened. He blinked three times to test and see if he was just imagining things. But no, they really were green.

"Cecelia!" Danny called, knowing that she was cooking. "CECELIA!" He yelled louder when she didn't come right away. Cecelia rushed into the baby room, bracing herself for something being wrong with the baby. Danny pointed. "Look. His eyes!"

"Green!" She gasped and stared at them for a while. "Well…what do we do? I mean, they don't glow like yours can in your ghost form. Maybe he just has that genetic, and didn't get any of your powers."

"But you don't know that. Maybe he just isn't doing it yet. Maybe he'll do it at some random time out in public and attract everyone's attention. How are we going to explain a ghost baby that you legally gave birth to?"

"He doesn't seem ghostly to me. He may just have green eyes."

"I know, but what if he doesn't?"

"What do YOU think we should do?"

Danny shrugged as he put the baby back down in his crib. "I don't…I don't know. We'll have to watch him closely. That's a give-in. But if anything strange happens, I'm gonna have to tell my parents, and probably the press too, who I really am." He sighed. "For the time being, we'll have to keep distance. We can't let Aiden be around any of our parents much, if at all, okay? At least not until we know what's going on and figure out a way to handle it."

Cecelia hugged him. "I know you don't want that, but I'll go along with what you say."

"I wish there was another way. I wish someone could tell me if my son is part ghost or not." Just to make sure, Danny contacted Wenn and Wenn paid them a visit and told them he couldn't tell what was going on with the baby because its body was stabilizing and changing all over. So really, only time would tell.

Meanwhile some days later over and Jack and Maddie's place, the new grandparents were still enthusing over their first grandchild being born. They kept calling Danny's house to make sure that he had everything in order and they were taking turns giving baby advice. Jack went more of the overprotective route by mentioning all kinds of overprotective things. Danny was getting annoyed, because he didn't want his kid to grow up sheltered or be a labeled as a loser in school like he had been.

Out of Jack's own paranoia, he also jokingly mentioned that Aiden might be a ghost, which nearly gave Danny a heart attack, but Jack laughed largely afterwards, and Danny had to force his own laughter. And then Maddie went on and on to Danny about his own baby stories and embarrassing childish tendencies that Danny had tried to bury behind him long ago. Some of these things Maddie repeated to Cecelia after talking to Danny, which made Cecelia giggle from the other line.

Danny always thought adults couldn't get embarrassed, but here he was, an adult, feeling more embarrassed than he had in years. Later on in the night, Jack made the mistake of calling up the man whom he still tried to think of as his best friend—Vlad Masters. Even though Jack had learned Vlad was a halfa long ago, Vlad had pleaded with Jack to forgive him and Jack had foolishly accepted the apology after seeing Vlad persist in it. Jack called Vlad to talk on about two of his kids getting married, though Vlad was especially interested in Danny and Cecelia and their lives.

Jack spilled about the baby, Aiden, and didn't even realize how evilly Vlad was grinning from the other line of the phone. Vlad had multiple estates—one in Colorado, one in Wisconsin, and even two others. He was currently living in the Wisconsin one, but that wouldn't stop him from flying over to Colorado if he needed to. Er, if he WANTED to. After hearing that Danny had a son, Vlad's mind got filled with so many terribly evil ideas that he didn't even know what to do with them.

All his hatred for Danny had only been back building all of these years but Danny probably though t Vlad was just a coward who gave up and went into hiding. But things couldn't be more opposite. Vlad knew that the way to hurt Danny the most was to get to his family. So Vlad was thinking…should he kidnap the child or just simply kill it? The latter decision would be far too easy for Vlad's style, and so he discarded that one. He also thought he shouldn't kidnap the child right away either—wait till Danny and Cecelia were attached to it more and it had a chance to grow up a bit and understand the world.

But this didn't work either, because Vlad was very impatient. So what Vlad decided on doing was going to be to fly over there and see if the child was even something special worth stealing. The odds were very much against the baby being born a halfa, but there was a strong possibility that the baby was not altogether human either. Vlad revived his old schematics for a genetic tester in his secret lab. The machine was half-built, but hiring some private company to finish it within the month was no problem at all because money wasn't a problem.

So one night, Vlad geared up in his Plasmius form and took a day out of his time to fly down to the pathetic little town of Amity Park, Colorado, where there the new challenge was to find out exactly where Danny was living. He ended up paying off a stranger to tell him which street Danny Fenton had driven up most often Vlad located Daren Street. He phased in and out of the rooms of the various homes, until he came to one with a definite space theme in the baby room. _That's the one_, Vlad thought.

The baby boy was sound asleep. Danny would be at work at this time, so there was no confrontation to worry about. All it took was a pluck of one of his hairs, and Vlad put the sample in a small test tube. Aiden woke up and started crying loudly, but by the time Cecelia got in there, Vlad was on route back to his home. Vlad tested the hair through his sampler many times, and the only result he received were "human hair". To make sure the machine even worked, he tested one of his own hairs on it, and received a result, "50% human hair, 50% ghost hair". He knew it worked now. That baby had just gotten…lucky. Vlad had no further interest in the child. Not yet, at least.


	15. Chapter 15: Burden Lifted

**Chapter 15: "Burden Lifted"**

In December, Danny, Cecelia and little Aiden made their way down the street for the big Fenton family Christmas dinner. It was more than just a dinner, but dinner was what Jack and Maddie decided to call it. And there were plenty of relatives here that Cecelia did not know, but that was okay. Danny didn't think it was so weird seeing Tucker here now, and with his sister too. Jazz had never been happier. Danielle and Kibbon were here too.

Everyone seemed to have gotten over any arguments they had with Garth. Danny's cousin Carter was here as well and judging by the hug, it seemed she had warmed up to Cecelia a lot but they didn't used to get along well. She asked about Preston and seemed to know about him getting married to Niki even after Cecelia explained it. Carter's heart was broken over it and she was even more quiet than usual.

Cecelia wanted to talk to her about it, but as per the norm, Carter pushed her away. Carter was in love with Preston, and would not get over him too easily if ever. The thing that really waxed sore on her heart though was his absolute promise that they'd be together and that he'd come back for her ultimately. Yet Carter somehow believed his divorce with Niki would be unlikely based on how the Tossi laws were at the moment. But the future could definitely change some things. At the gathering, everyone seemed happy to fawn over the new baby and Danny and Cecelia were quite pleased that they didn't even need to watch him themselves for the whole night.

Somebody else always wanted to hold him, and whenever they were tired, there was always another set of open arms to pass him to. The dinner was very large and probably took multiple days to have prepared. After dinner and dessert, everyone sat in the family room around tree and sung a few carols. It was the Fentons of course, so most of the notes were off-key but that didn't matter—they just had a good time doing it. Then a few presents were passed around, and that was that.

It was 2016. After a long engagement, Dash and Paulina were finally getting married! It was one of the bigger weddings Danny and Cecelia attended. They left baby Aiden with his grandfather Mortimer for the day. The food at the wedding was good, but because there was so many people, Danny and Cecelia couldn't locate anybody they knew to talk to. They didn't want to stick around for very long. So they wished good luck to the bride and groom and then left quickly. They'd rather pick up Aiden and take him out of poor granddad's hands and hear about the wedding later from friends who had also attended.

Aiden wasn't even a year old, but he was quite the handful and extremely moody for a baby. He was unpredictable, but Danny and Cecelia loved him nonetheless. Jazz made sure to fill Danny and Cecelia in on all the details. She called their house and Cecelia had it on speakerphone while she gave Aiden his bath so she could listen at the same time. Cecelia was really starting to look up to Jazz both as a friend and for receiving advice. On the other hand, Garth was all the more reclusive and secretive, and grumpy even if anyone wanted to contact him. He never told the team about his problems anymore—almost like he didn't trust them. They were all worried for him and didn't really know what was best for him.

Around April, Cecelia received an interesting text. It was from…Wenn. Larrow and his wife now had a daughter, Isabella. Cecelia thought it was strange because Wenn hadn't texted her very often at all since they got back from Japan years ago. Maybe once or twice a year they would have a conversation? He told her way back when that they could still be friends, yet he continued to be weird about it and had her very, VERY confused. But that was life. That was growing up.

Meanwhile, Danny had a lot to manage with his full-time hopeful astronaut career as well as a family, but he was willing to do it. In the fall was when Angel Academy officially opened and Danny had to make his fair share of rounds of guarding it from any invasive evils that might seek to harm the students. But with Danny's career and his new family now, life was getting very complicated and full. He started to have no free time on his hands, as expected, so something had to give. The stress was heavy, and the pressure was unbearable. So he decided to discontinue his role as helping guard Angel Academy.

Danny felt bad about that, but hoped that another more powerful, if not better guard, would fill in to take his place. He was being called to too many responsibilities but career and family came first. He wasn't the same "full-time superhero" that he used to be as a kid. Things were changing, and Danny just hoped they would change for the better somehow, some way.

Not too long after Angel Academy opened, Principal Garth started to revert back to his old ways of being cold and unfriendly all the more noticeably and he was awaiting the day when Kibbon would take over his position for him. Being Principal without a Vice was a lot to handle; too much, at that. The pressure wasn't something he ever taken positively. He liked to _think_ he could handle it. But he was often very cross, and though his anger was not directed at anyone, it sometimes came off sounding that way.

Besides, having a human girlfriend in the past caused Garth to take a lot of heat from many people at Angel Academy both students and staff. Rumors were going around about him being a hypocrite and unfit to be the head authority of Angel Academy. In fact he was letting it get to him so much that in his own pride, he was thinking of not even coming back as Principal for next year. In fact since Garth had no shortage of other duties and calls in life to attend to, he thought this would be a good course of action but wasn't going to tell anyone yet.

Garth didn't seem to mind that his friends were thinking of him as a jerk right now because he knew as soon as it blew over, they'd forgive him for it. One day Angelina met Garth in his Angel Academy office and what started out as a casual conversation ended in an argument over something the two of them had kept covert for a while now. It didn't last for long. It was a bit of a blur and neither of them were sure who brought up the subject first, but they ended up coming to the conclusion that everything they were doing and had been doing was for the best. That was it. Clean cut. It was over. No more arguing about it.

It was like a burden had been lifted off both their shoulders. But did Garth dare calling up Angelina after it all? In his current situation, he was far less worthy of her than he had been about five years ago when they had dated. He held the phone in his hand as he sat alone in the office, and then put it down coldly. Had it really been so long? It felt like it was just last year, and it kind of was. Even though they had broken up, they never stopped seeing each other. Once and for all, he had determined that career was more important that pursuing a frivolous possibility that may or may not be able to be revived.

If there was time, however, after all the stress blew over, he was going to reconsider giving Angelina a call. He was still desperately in love with her, but buried that deep in the depths of himself and tried to forget it for now. He wasn't about to let it hurt him anymore. But, since Angelina had some distant connection with a connection to Team Phantom and she already had teamwork experience with her parents both being agents and also working for CorUPT herself, there was a chance she might be affiliated with some Team Phantom projects in the upcoming years and potentially go with them to the ghost zone if at all possible. But again, it was all up to fate.

Meanwhile Jazz was handling life well. She was a free woman and her heart was light, and she didn't have to worry about that potential job hanging over her head to distract her from work anymore. She was able to dive into the projects that Tucker wanted her to and work more collaboratively with her coworkers Nett Davis and the Jiggs brothers. She was proud to be working with such a team of geniuses. That summer, Danny took time out of his private schedule to visit Kibbon in his office to ask his opinion on what was the best course of action regarding the possibility of having a partially ghost child. Kibbon wasn't able to offer Danny much advice on the matter, but from Danny had told him, it didn't seem to Kibbon that Danny's parents would have any problem with him being half ghost. Kibbon then proceeded to issue a bunch of positive facts about the situation, because that was just his nature.

Because his wife was one of only four halfas in existence, Kibbon saw it as a great thing but Danny still had his fears. Evil halfas like Vlad and Cirth were still out there, and the scariest part was that Cirth was Danny's clone just as much as Danielle was. Danny wasn't about to take any chances, since this could anger his parents if they found out. It might set them forever on his case and he'd have to abandon all thoughts of them as family. If he ever was going to tell them, the timing would be of his own choosing.


	16. Chapter 16: Story Time With Sam

**Chapter 16: "Story Time With Sam"**

That year at Christmas, Tucker and Jazz decided to host a Christmas get-together reunion type of thing for their friends exclusively at their house. Both of the hosts noticed a strange sort of disconnect among everyone immediately, and did not like it. But there didn't seem to be anything they could do about it. Jazz wasn't entirely comfortable making casual conversation about something yet, though she did admit to herself at last that she had been feeling a burden of pressure lifted once she realized she was pregnant. Only Tucker knew so far and they had been waiting for the right time to tell everyone.

It was on the last night of 2016 that Jazz insisted on a three-way call between herself, Danielle, and Danny's house. Both couples were worried that something was wrong, and it took a long half hour of beating around the bush, poking, and prodding, before Jazz finally admitted the reason she had to talk to them at this hour. "I'm pregnant." She confessed. "And it's going to be a boy."

The advice given to Jazz was generally positive and encouraging, and after talking to the group, they were all convinced that she and Tucker would make great parents, and the adults agreed to help babysit the child where needed. The decision was made. The baby was going to arrive sometime within the upcoming year. Jazz was excited. Tucker had shown instant maturity on the manner, just now realizing the true weight of his age. He was going to be a father soon! But was he ready for it?

The year was now 2017—time flew by faster and faster as people got older. That spring, Tucker and Jazz went on a month-long cruise around the Bahamas and Europe and gave birth there on it. The baby was adorable and she fell in love with it right there. They ended up naming him Lolito. Everyone was excited to meet the new baby when the Foleys returned, especially Jack and Maddie. Jazz and Cecelia scheduled play dates where Aiden could hopefully meet and befriend his new cousin. Danny was very busy with work lately so he set his ghost weapon work aside for now and Cecelia understood why.

Cecelia was able to come over to Jazz's place regularly and help take care of Lolito as well because Aiden had started attending preschool on some days of the week. There, he was left in the care of Sam Manson as his teacher. Tucker was busier than ever with work while Jazz was on maternity leave. Sam's classroom was a small room near the front of a one-floor elementary school building in Amity Park. The classroom had red wallpaper and blue carpeting, and a lot of the decorations were cute and inviting to children.

Fourteen desks that were only two feet tall sat in four rows in the center of the classroom. Around those desks were lockers, and various shelves and cabinets designated to specific school subjects. The school was big on arts and crafts, so completed art projects were what occupied most of the free space on the walls and the ceiling. This was Sam's third year of teaching at the school. She was always good with kids, surprisingly, but kept it a secret. She had a baby of her own not too long ago and wanted one more some time.

Jazz and the others had no knowledge of this though, as none of them really kept up with Sam much these days. Sam's desire to work with small children began as only a thought when she was in gym class one day and the teacher had the students pretend a flour sack was a baby. The assignment was designed to teach teens to be more responsible, a trait which Sam already had, and so she decided to take the assignment seriously. Every day that Sam came into work and saw all the little tykes running around and playing, she was reminded of that assignment.

"Good morning, Miss Manson." The older kids of the small group would say in that dultrey sing-song tone every morning when Sam walked in with her bookbag and water bottle. Aiden was in the class, as well as Jarred Chang. Aiden didn't have that many friends, but he didn't have any enemies either. He got good marks, and he seemed to gravitate a lot to sporty looking pictures. Jarred was outspoken and confident, unlike most kids his age who were still just figuring things out. Aiden and Jarred quickly became friends.

Every morning at nine o'clock the small class would gather around for Sam to read a story. This was the part of the day that most of the toddlers looked forward to. Sam pretended to pull out a book from her bag and read it to them. Truly, the book was blank. The kids never knew because she never let them see it. Sam was really quoting the stories from memory, because she had been there in the past to see miracles happen. She'd seen many wild stories.

Sam was there when Danny Phantom had told her about the time he saved Christmas. She was there the day he got his powers. She was there the day he had saved the world from a giant asteroid. She was there when an evil ghost king tried to conquer the human world. All these adventures she told he children, and many more. She was lucky that her audience was only preschoolers. That meant everything she told them went in one ear and out the other. Even Aiden probably wouldn't make the connection that she was talking about his father.

So if she told them all these stories, they would only think it fiction at most. She was telling them more so that she could remember things one last time and then let them go. This was her way of reliving the excitement. The newest story she was telling was the time he got the job he always wanted. "So Danny always wanted to be an astronaut. One day, once he graduated from college, he checked his report card. He was pleased to find out it was all A's and B's. That meant he could apply for NASA, and get an internship, hopefully. Ever since he was a really young boy, he wanted to go into space."

"Did he get the job, Miss Manson?" A little girl in the front row asked.

"Yes, yes, he got the job." Sam said with a smile.

"Did he ever go to space?" Jarred asked.

"Not yet, but he's planning to. What's important is that he loves this job. And he gets to have fun while he works."

"What things does he do?" asked Aiden.

"Well, he goes through a lot of training. There are several machines there that spin around in various ways. To withstand them, you have to be very strong."

"Did Danny with—stannnnd them?" The kid tried to figure out that word. "With stand?"

"Yes, yes, he passed all the tests. Once they call on him, he can go into space."

"Does he have a rocket?" Jarred inquired.

"He gets to visit rockets but he doesn't have his own rocket. He wants one. He knows how to fly a rocket."

"Cool!"

"Wow!"

"Sweeeeet!"

"Whoa!" said Lolito.

"I wanna fly inna rocket!" Jarred exclaimed. Sam enjoyed telling them these stories. As they started to get louder, she gently hushed the children, trying to tone down all their excitement. Sam looked out the window and tried to imagine where Danny could be right now. Danny had been waiting for this opportunity in his job for a long time—the day when his career would finally…take off.

Just then, Sam's phone beeped. It was a text message. She read it. _"They're starting the countdown." _Was what it said. Sam smiled. The message was from Danny, and she knew exactly what it meant. Danny was embarking on his first trip to space. "5…4…3…2…1…" Sam said. She couldn't take her eyes off the window. She didn't know what she was looking at, because the space station Danny worked at was hundreds of miles from here.

"What's you saying, Miss Manson?" Jarred asked.

The rest of the class stopped their chitter-chattering and listened to Sam as she counted. "I have a feeling Danny just got his biggest wish. He's going to be in space soon."

"YAAAYY!" The class cheered. Some students stood on their chairs and cheered. Others ran around the room. For once, Sam did not even try to control them. A few moments of good clean fun would be good for the youngsters.

A lot of them even asked if Danny was real. Then Sam's face turned from calm to serious instantaneously. "You know what, I think he IS real." She grinned in a motherly way. "And maybe one day, some of you will get to meet him." Excitement rolled through the room, but it died down within the hour, and then everything was as it had been. Sam figured they wouldn't remember, so what was the harm in telling them?


	17. Chapter 17: Changing Perspective

**Chapter 17: "Changing Perspective"**

Wenn broke his little sea of anti-social behaviors to tell his friends that his wife had given birth to a son, Ivan. Larrow had been hoping Wenn would have a son, so that he could engage his daughter to him. Wenn was glad that he had an heir, now, so he was thinking he and Tara could quit having kids, though he knew she wanted to have at least one more. Wenn was never too keen on the idea of being a parent…at all…but being an only child, he knew all along growing up that he was the only one left in his family.

So he had to produce at least one heir if he ever married. He did develop a bit of a soft spot for Tara, who was becoming a gentler person with their child being brought into the picture. That could also be because she still managed to keep up with her medicinal studies AND keep house, both while being pregnant as well. She was a dedicated and loyal spouse, but also serious, and went along with all of Wenn's decisions, which pleased him. She definitely gave her all to their relationship and life together.

Meanwhile Danny was almost always at work or doing something for work which put the portal project on hold and it was far from finished. Danny was grateful for having been assigned to a team to work on a satellite in space. Over the course of the year 2017 he was scheduled to go up into space three times, one of which had already commenced. Battling stray ghostly enemies here and there in the town had kept up Danny's strength and cardio so that he didn't have to do as much training for going up into space as most of the other guys did.

Cecelia's job was simple compared to Danny's—all she had to do was coach cheerleaders. So helping out her sister-in-law was not that much of a bother. Though Jazz had the baby, she was lonely with having to stay at home while Tucker worked. She longed to be there by his side helping him out, especially because with each passing day she was getting further and further out of the loop on the projects of their workplace. There was only so much Tucker could explain to her when he got home.

When Jazz wasn't available to watch Lolito, Cecelia or Danielle were. They had a trustworthy system and treated Cecelia like a sister. Jazz didn't totally trust her baby in the hands of her incompetent parents yet, but she was starting to open up to the idea of letting them watch him for longer periods of time, maybe. However Cecelia couldn't continue to help for long. Once she learned she was pregnant again—this time with twins—she had to take it easy some more. Of course as the announcement circled around, many friends wanted to talk to her about it, but she was just too tired to do much.

This pregnancy wasn't nearly as "easy" as the first one. At the most random of times, Cecelia found herself running to the bathroom to throw up. It kept coming out greenish yellow. And then she couldn't sleep for hours. The severe lack of sleep was taking a toll on her and combined with keeping house, she had to take maternity leave from her job early which made her coworkers think she was being a baby out of it.

Sure it hurt her pride to take the easy way out, but with these vicious upchuck episodes one right after another, Cecelia figured it was time to see a doctor and ask him why she kept getting sick even though she was taking every precaution to stay healthy and well. Cecelia was entirely stunned when the doctor told her she was not sick and was, in fact, in perfect health. Cecelia went on to say how her barf was this wretched infectious-looking color and how she felt miserable. But the doctor said without a sample, he couldn't explain anything. One night, Danny happened to be home early and heard Cecelia throwing up.

He got to see the vomit before she flushed it, and identified it immediately as ectoplasmic residue mixed with other such stomach acids. Danny talked it over with her and explained that in theory, one or both of the twins was potentially partially ghost, or even all ghost. Now that the young couple had been parents for almost three years now, they had been preparing themselves for this day. They just didn't think they'd get a sign this early.

From then on Cecelia's pregnancy progress and symptoms were released exclusively to family members who knew Danny's secret only—so…pretty much just Jazz, Kibbon, Tucker, and Danielle. Danny kept telling Cecelia to think positively, like reminding her that at least they had warning of this and had time to prepare. "Hybrids are a tricky, tricky thing." Danny called Tucker on the phone. "We don't know what to expect."

"How's she been feeling? I'm curious. I want to know as much detail as possible, just in case Danielle has to go through this someday."

"…You're right." Danny sighed. "I'll be sure to keep you posted if anything happens. But there's one thing we've already determined: she can't give birth in a regular hospital."

"Well duh, that's a give-in." Tucker laughed. "Just make sure she's somewhere far away from a hospital when she starts having contractions, so anyone who hears about it will think she just couldn't make it in time. Then get the twins legally registered later."

"Yeah, that's right on track of what Cecelia and I were thinking."

"Good luck."

"Thanks. Bye." Danny hung up the phone and then paced around the room, thinking for a moment. He started to do research on his computer about hybrids and other such ghostly information—anything he could find, really, that he didn't already know. He stayed up really late on his laptop, even long after Cecelia had gone to bed. "There has to be something…" Danny said to himself, feeling frustrated. "Something that I'm missing…"

With Jack and Maddie calling Danny's house all the time, it was hard for him to talk the conversations around Cecelia's pregnancy or even to avoid the topic at all. They often asked to come over, to bond with Aiden, and help out Cecelia where needed. Danny would have loved to accept the help and he felt horrible for having to turn them down. Of course Cecelia felt even more guilty, but her throwing up was completely sporatic and unpredictable.

Meanwhile, as soon as the school term at Angel Academy was finished, Garth announced that he would be ending his career with them and he sent in his resignation requesting that his successor Principal would be Kibbon Clevely. The form was accepted. Garth put in a good word, believing that after all Kibbon had done in Team Prism; he had matured greatly and was well-suited to be a leader. Especially since Kibbon was young and free; he had no worries. And his wife was going to be his Vice; that was settled.

In contrast, _Garth_…sometimes felt like he had the weight of more than one world resting on his shoulders. Wasn't that an excuse enough to be a jerk here and there? Garth still hadn't got that quite figured out. But the end always justified the means. He was kinda counting on that. Angelina? Things with her were still quite the mystery and he didn't know if their relationship would ever stabilize. Garth packed up the possessions in his house—which were very few—and prepared to move into the ghost zone permanently where he had another career and a very different style of life awaiting him.

His old friend Lyon, the Prince of the dragon islands, had long been waiting to see him. And it so happened that when Garth got there, Lyon requested that he take over as permanent successor of the dragon realm. How could Garth refuse this a second time? This was what he had come here to maintain—a legacy, a role. Now his other options were all but gone which made this choice clear—he was going to step up and take it. The "seclusion" part of being in ghost zone authority was something that appealed to him more than anything.

Later in that year, Wenn, his wife, and their son were living contentedly Amity Park in the interest of warning their friends about what was soon to occur. The bad omen Wenn had felt years ago was now in full view, and within reach. The rest of 2017 was safe, but 2018 was going to be the year of certain war. Everything would change.

Uncertainty was going to become an everyday feeling. Wenn knew that the Tossi were planning to attack the ghost zone in a few months and there would be no stopping this bloody invasion. Unless…no, it would be too problematic; impossible. But, there might just be some hope…if Team Phantom got in there ahead of the curve. _It was time._


	18. Chapter 18: Switching Gears

**Chapter 18: "Switching Gears"**

From then on, plans of making weapons and defensive systems became the high priority for Team Phantom. There were some great minds in this group and when they were all put together, there could be no stopping them. Communication was just as essential as efficiency. They had even bought large amounts of property in the ghost zone. A Team Phantom HQ base was underway there. Luckily the building was already standing and items just needed to be transported. These plans ran long into 2018.

What with the ongoing battles regarding Angel Academy, Danny was surprised in general just how many people had volunteered to help out Team Phantom. Danny, Cecelia, and their son were preparing—along with several other families—to move into the ghost zone permanently because Wenn said that the Tossi were planning to "come in without knocking and then lock the door behind them". Danny was filing to quit his job here in the human world but quitting would take time, obviously.

Danny hated to quit, but the future of the ghost zone was more important. This was a purely selfless act. And besides, he carried the hope within him that he could one day return to his dream. After all he had somehow gotten this far which was farther than he ever could have imagined. Danny just couldn't allow the ghost world to be taken over by the Tossi. Cecelia was filing to quit her job as well.

She'd come back to the school just for a few appointments, but once maternity leave was over and she had the babies, she wouldn't be coming back. Danny had a bad feeling that the Tossi were planning to close off all exits to the ghost zone, which was the same thing Wenn was predicting. There was no telling when any of this could start, but once it did, there was no going back. So Team Phantom just had to move in as fast as they could, settle in, and then wait for it to come.

But moving out wasn't as easy as it sounded. There was a warehouse portal to the ghost zone, which shipping trucks could drive in and out of without causing a scene. But the problem continued further with finding an honest ghost diver to help the famous (and somewhat hated still) Danny Phantom and his friends move in. That sort of thing took time but eventually Danny found one.

Also, Danny and Cecelia's new home in the ghost zone was very secure, and very safe. It was smaller than their human world home, and within the property boundaries of the base. Jazz was keeping track of a registrar of all the people intending to move into the ghost zone from their team, including herself, Tucker, Danny, Cecelia, Aiden, Wenn, Tara, Ivan, Kibbon, and Danielle. Those were the central members of their party. They were all sad not to have Garth with him, but he wasn't far.

Jazz wanted to keep everything organized and recorded, so fewer mix-ups were bound to happen and as well, that they wouldn't run out of supplies. But of course there would be other squadrons coming, like Zentak's, which consisted of himself, Edward, Dimon, Scarlett, and Zoey. Joining them would be Ido's team of himself, Dackery, Dayson, and Angelina…and definitely several more. It was too large of a number to name offhandedly, but a big number was a good sign. The more the better; and the more skills there were to pool.

The ghost zone did in fact have running water, but Jazz knew that if everyone was going to be sealed in the ghost zone for an unknown amount of time, things were bound to get tight. Members of Team Phantom and other outside friends were instructed to purchase in bulk as much water and food that they could, as well as tools to grow their own food crops. Everyone in Team Phantom was surprised at Sam deciding not to come to the ghost zone to take up a role in the big battle.

She was content with her life as it was in the human realm, and didn't really want to leave it. Tucker wondered if being human had anything to do with it, but he didn't want to risk asking. As for Paulina and Dash, they recently had their firstborn son, Casey, and so they had their hands full with life there. Despite being trusted allies and decent fighters, they were also inevitably human. They had the chance to live relatively normal lives and wanted their son to grow up without all of the ghostly influences.

Larrow, Shadase, Preston, and Niki would be some of the few Tossi actually remaining in the Tossi realm during the war. Larrow and Preston had their daughters to take care of, and besides, they were more of honorary members of Team Phantom than actual members anyways. And still, they never liked ghosts much, so being neutral was actually a step up. Preston and Niki had agreed not to engage their daughter to anyone and be among the first to break the law.

They just got lucky that in all the commotion of their kind rushing for the war that paperwork like the engagement of children was low priority. This "compromise" gave Preston hope that eventually he could divorce Niki and get away with it so he could finally be with Carter. He was patient. During times of war, all structure could turn to chaos. Unfortunately the marriage laws would only be dropped if their kind became an endangered species. Preston believed that was entirely possible with the onset of this war.

The colony of Team Phantom allies in the ghost zone was growing and many had already moved in completely. Ghosts were starting to side with them in exchange for protection and allegiance in a war that hadn't even officially started yet. But the more allies they had, the better. Danny knew that it would take a community working together to make progress, not just a small handful of old high school friends. He was proud of the progress so far, though.

Kibbon thought his priorities rested with Angel Academy, as they should, but he ended up resigning his post, as did Danielle. They knew they belonged in the ghost zone with their friends and family. And as for Valerie, she seemed to have settled for her normal life as a Casper High gym teacher, having an on and off relationship with Bob Foley. But she, Sam, Dash, Paulina, and Tekairo all vouched their honesty to protect and defend Blackthorn County for as long as it was still standing, and to keep in touch with the current Team Prism.

Changes were coming about fast, but Team Phantom seemed willing to take it on. Adjusting to life in the ghost zone might arouse some problems, but at least hopefully Cecelia might find some better doctors who would understand more of what was going in inside of her. Wenn actually let Tara help Cecelia eventually. Tara found the study fascinating while looking at all the supernatural aspects. Wenn was able to tell Cecelia that indeed her twins had a bit of ghostly genetics to them, and also, he mentioned that one was a boy and one was a girl. Cecelia was glad, because she had been waiting for a daughter.

Danny and Cecelia's house was all but vacant. They had both quit their jobs, though Danny's company said there was always an opening for him there if he wanted it. They had paid their last farewells to Cecelia's sister and father, as well as Danny's parents. When they were saying goodbye to Jack and Maddie, they didn't make it seem like it would be months or something before they spoke again.

Because that was what Danny was counting on—a few months, maybe a year, hopefully not too much longer. Danny really didn't want to look too far past that and accidentally think about something that he didn't even want to consider…that they might be stuck there for longer or even never come out. He was going into this believing to come out, no matter how long and hard the road was ahead of him.

Danny didn't want Jack and Maddie to know this was goodbye because he was afraid they'd try to talk him and his sisters out of it. But Danny spoke with them. "I can't tell you where we are going but why…but just know that we love you." It broke his heart to say that because he knew Jazz and Danielle had already said their goodbyes and losing all three of their children for a while, even just one month or two, would be harsh.

Kibbon didn't have much to leave behind. Tucker was glad to put some distance between himself and his parents for a while. He figured it would be good for them and for him. But the hardest part was deciding to leave his son with the Baxter couple. After all, Danny, Cecelia, Wenn, and Tara were all planning to raise their children here as was Danielle whenever she would have her baby.

But Tucker and Jazz eventually came to the conclusion that bringing up a defenseless human baby in this world would be too risky. All of the other children might at least have powers to defend themselves with, but not poor Lolito. It broke the hearts of the Foley couple but they knew it was for the best.


	19. Chapter 19: Collision

**Chapter 19: "Collision"**

After months of praying and waffling back and forth on the matter, Jazz and Tucker finally transferred foster care rights of Lolito over to the Baxter family so that Dash and Paulina could raise him alongside the kids they were planning to have. Tucker and Jazz wished they had been thinking ahead before trying to get Jazz pregnant, because it might have been better to wait until the war was over. They just hadn't realized how fast the time for war would draw near.

Tucker and Jazz didn't want to expose baby Lolito to the war world of the ghost zone from such a young age. In the end, the Baxters would prove the best family for Lolito. Even if they took him, Jazz couldn't give him the time and care and devotion that he needed anyways because she would be working full-time at the Team Phantom HQ and so would Tucker. Jazz was shocked that Wenn's son was coming, though, and not staying with Larrow or anything.

But Tara quickly explained to all challengers how Ivan could "learn on his own". Oh well, it was their kid and their risk. Psychic Tossi babies needed very little parental assistance, as their minds were a lot like sponges, ready to absorb knowledge and analyze of whatever they saw. Jazz found the psychology behind it all too fascinating, though her concern for that baby's well-being remained.

Danny and Cecelia were just paying their last respects to the human world they figured they wouldn't see for a long time and they decided to take a train. They had to keep telling Aiden to sit still and be quiet, cuz being a toddler, he wanted to walk everywhere and touch everything. He was still a handful. Over and over throughout the whole ride, he was repeating the names that his parents had settled on for the twins. "Taylor and Leo…Taylor and Leo." Aiden touched Cecelia's belly and she groaned uncomfortably. "Tyler and Leo."

"It's _Taylor_, sport." Danny corrected kindly.

"Taylor and Leo…" Aiden continued. The young couple was just on their way back home to clear out the last few items in their house, when the train unexpectedly crashed. Danny didn't have time to react or anything. It all happened so fast! Danny and Cecelia were both knocked out instantly as their heads slammed into the seating in front of them. Their limp bodies fell out of their seats.

People were screaming and the train was literally a wreck. Cecelia regained consciousness briefly. She had been having contractions, but kept quiet about it. Her vision was blurred and her head was spinning. All the sounds melted together and seemed indistinct. All her senses were wonky. She screamed something, possibly a cry for help, but she didn't even know what she was saying because all of the other sounds drowned out her voice.

By the time Danny became conscious, Cecelia was lying on the ground holding the baby twins in her arms. But Danny couldn't see that far to know that the twins had been born. Cecelia was out again, and bleeding. The twins were crying and she held them loosely. Danny weakly said their names out loud, "Taylor…Leo…" And he heard that repeating over and over but it was not him saying it. It was Aiden. He had been repeating the names the whole way though he kept saying Tyler instead of Taylor.

Then, Danny blacked out again. That was his last moment with them, though he didn't know it yet. Next thing they knew, Danny and Cecelia were being checked out by a doctor. Cecelia hadn't remembered giving birth at all, though she clearly had. She remembered the extreme pain though. Danny called his parents to tell them what had occurred, and Cecelia did likewise with her own father. They just had to let their parents know that they were okay.

Not too long after he had been checked out, Danny and Cecelia sat in the station waiting for any news on their children being located. Danny received an interesting call, then, on his cell phone from a Wisconsin area code. "Oh no…" Danny muttered to himself as he picked up, hoping it wouldn't be…

"Ah, hello, Daniel." That voice! It was ageless and timeless, still. Vlad Masters. "I couldn't help but notice an awful crash on the news because your father told me to turn on the TV to that channel…and to think, your father just called me and he…he said you were in that very crash. Are you alright?"

Danny sighed in annoyance. "What do you want, Vlad?"

"Oh I just wanted to see if you were okay." Vlad twirled the phone cord around his finger. "It looks terrible from what I'm seeing. I just saw some bodies being hauled away on a gurney, all scrambled and bloody." Vlad played coy. "Goodness gracious, how horrific it would have been if that was you!"

Danny rolled his eyes, thinking, Vlad would probably laugh if he saw that. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I was a passenger on the train at the time of the crash. And so were my wife and kids. But my wife is fine. We're just going to be spending the night at the hospital until the officers find our kids."

"Are your little ones okay?"

"_Why_?"

"Because I saw three _little_ scrambled bloody bodies on gurneys get hauled away by men wearing black and grey…"

Danny gasped. "Are you _sure_ it was my kids?" Danny stammered with a breaking voice.

"How many did you have? And how many other kids were on the train?"

"…Three." Danny hesitated. "Leo and Taylor had just been born right before—"

"There weren't any other kids on the train, were there?" Vlad interrupted.

Danny realized that was true, and his heart started racing something horrible. His face got all hot, with fear, anger, and sadness all mixing together furiously. All the other passengers were members of baseball teams heading for some tournament that didn't even get to happen. He hadn't even noticed that until now. Danny was crying now, because real men cried. "Thank you for telling me." He said briskly, and ended the conversation right there.

Danny told Cecelia and she started sobbing too, but they weren't going to give up just at that. They weren't going to believe Vlad until they discovered the truth for themselves. Danny was mad. He and Cecelia searched high and low…until eventually they just had to stop searching because the authorities had shoved them away from the scene of unidentified bodies. The couple put in a word with the children's names, and nothing more.

There had been many casualties and Danny and Cecelia knew that they were lucky to be alive, and were told that three children so young probably wouldn't have survived. Danny had multiple bruises—two on his head, several on his arms, more on his knees, and a broken arm. Cecelia had fractured a few bones and well, and was scraped up pretty bad. The train crash shock effect had caused her to give contractions prematurely, though the babies probably would have arrived on their own within a few weeks anyways.

Danny and Cecelia were sent home like that, sad, sleepless, and empty. However at the very least they were smart enough not to blame themselves, or blame anyone. It was an accident—and nobody's fault. They comforted themselves by reminding each other that the children were in a better place now.

It was a terrible thing to have lost three little ones, and two of them they hadn't even gotten to know yet. The couple embraced each other and cried together in their home, where nobody could see them, before reporting the news of what had happened to their friends. Tucker and Jazz were angry with this, and Danielle was just painfully saddened, though Jack and Maddie probably took it the harshest. Cecelia could never tell if her father was broken up about things, but losing his only grandchildren was sure to wear on him. Anni was distraught too, when Cecelia told her. It was awful

Danny bit the bullet so to speak, and used this incident as motivation to make sure that this kind of thing didn't happen to anyone else. It was time to relocate to the ghost zone completely. He made it clear to his friends that their mission was peace—not to fight or to defend, but to hold their ground and help both sides come to a truce. The cause to stop the pain became all the more real to Danny and Cecelia once they had experienced it.

Meanwhile, clueless to all of these happenings, two ghosts named Johnathan and Kathryn—better known as Johnny and Kitty—were taking their leave of honeymoon in the human realm. Little did they know, the two newlyweds wouldn't be going back home. By the time they reached the portal, it was closed. Dysfunctional. Non-operational.

Jack and Maddie kept trying to text and call Danny to ask about how exactly their three grandchildren had died, but Danny knew that now he had entered the ghost zone, he lost all cell phone service to the human realm, especially now that the portals were shut by the now invading Tossi. The war was here and they were in the midst of it. Hopefully they were all prepared enough for it.

Team Phantom now had to rely solely on technology communication that they had been building over the past few years such as communicators that only worked with each other. Every member of the team had one, since cell phones were all inert now. They could just be tossed off the edge of the islands and not be given any further thought. This world of green sky and unstable ground was home now, and furthermore, it WAS the world. It _was_ a new beginning.


	20. Chapter 20: Be Prepared

**Chapter 20: "Be Prepared"**

There was something Danielle didn't share until much later in the year of 2018 where everyone had settled in. She was pregnant. But being slim for a woman, it didn't show much at all, though she had known for about three months. Jazz, Danny, Cecelia, and Tucker were all excited for her. Kibbon was overly excited about becoming a father but anxious at the same time. He was on hyper drive pretty much all hours of the day and rarely slept at all. It didn't seem to wear on him though.

As for the rest of Team Phantom besides Danielle, keeping up fitness and cardio was a must. There was only so much that hovering technology and fancy-shmansy weapons could do to assist humans like Tucker and Jazz, or anyone else. But at least the hovering technology could get the flightless species from island to island in the ghost zone at will. In mid-2019, Alek Clevely was born. He had light tan skin, pitch black hair, and silvery blue eyes. From the moment he was born, his parents could tell that he was a stubborn child, but they loved him very much.

Bombings went off here and there and many ghosts had already been destroyed, as inside helpers had reported. Other ghosts had been going to desperate measures to keep out the Tossi, including opening Pandora's Box, but that only helped their side a little. The Tossi were far more powerful than Team Phantom could have predicted, even with Wenn's help. It was as if the entire race had their procedures planned out and rehearsed beforehand. So far they were winning but just by a little. There was hope yet.

Casualties had already been accounted for. The danger was real. But with the help of new ghostly allies, Team Phantom's technology was taking a turn for the better, and fast. Weapons and shields were being more widely produced, though Danny didn't exactly like the whole weapons thing since he didn't want anyone to get hurt. But as he was beginning to notice, sometimes opening fire had to be done to save more lives than one. The Tossi with their own impressive technology got around from island to island just fine, and they had shields of their own.

What Team Phantom had were blueprints and designs that Danny had made copies of based on his parents' work. Some of the gadgets just needed to be modified a little. The more time went on, the more Danny and his sisters became impressed with just how ingenious and creative his parents were. And Tucker was just the man for the job of modifying the equipment.

One of Team Phantom's more basic structures of command was that humans had to stay in the protective safety of the base. Those with powers were allowed to leave more easily. Tucker was in charge of all orders of technology, Danielle was in charge of overseeing communications, Jazz was the overall secretary and emissary, Kibbon was the head ambassador of peaceful relations, Tara was head of everything medical, Wenn was in charge of obtaining any information regarding potential spies but mostly reading minds to find out the latest on what was being attacked. And then Danny was the final call on everything. Cecelia just filled in where necessary and kept morale up.

Each head of their department was responsible for training those willing to be trained under them, and so on and so forth. The more knowledge that could be passed on, the better. Everyone's minds was full-time busy. There was little time to find rest. And even where they could find rest, most of them just weren't in the mood to sleep at all. Tucker had a lot of his tech guys from the company come with him. Those who knew of the supernatural, that is.

Tucker had left Nett Davis as the succeeding CEO of his company, because he knew Nett had really wanted that. Additionally, all six of the Gano siblings were here. And that meant that they had a good advantage as it was. Five of the Gano's were geniuses and willing to help with anything from technology to medicine. The sixth Gano was technically not a Gano anymore—Scarlett—because she had recently married Zentak Shaloam. And Zentak was here too, and itching to fight in the war despite being warned against it.

Later in the year, Danny and Cecelia were issued a blessing as well. Cecelia was pregnant again. It was as if God was smiling down on the family now, giving them another chance for kids. Then in 2020, Marisol Fenton was born, with tan skin like Cecelia's, and raven black hair like Danny's. Also she had the loveliest violet-hued eyes. Cecelia was glad to finally have a daughter to dress up in tutus and frilly pink dresses and play with, though with the war, she was worried she wouldn't have much time.

Danny had a similar fear. He always wanted to be a good father that was worthy of admiration. The Fenton couple was grateful for the time they had to spend with their daughter and loved her all the more since having lost their first three children. Of course the bombing and the fighting was not constant year-round, and so this gave the ghosts a chance to rebuild, or at least evacuate or take cover.

A weakness was expressed early on that the Tossi could not teleport to their home realm from the ghost zone; so technically, they were just as vulnerable as the ghosts here. Meanwhile theories were being written by the Team Phantom staff in attempt to create a conclusion of a truce here, though it probably wouldn't work. There was a board meeting of members elected to debate such things in spare moments of free time.

But the board wasn't getting anywhere. Things were becoming tedious and routine, like the same runabout every day. Danny feared the war was getting into an endless cycle or stalemate that could go on infinitely until one or both of the warring species became extinct. Danny knew that neither had any intention of giving up, but there were a lot of ghosts that were easily killed by Tossi powers.

At first, Danny taught the Tossi were going to win just because they were hopelessly outnumbered, but according to Wenn, many ghosts were being killed without warning, more so than the Tossi. Tossi were hard to kill. At the beginning of the war, ghosts outnumbered Tossi seventeen to one. Now that statistic had dropped to fifteen in just a matter of a year and a half. It was a scary number, and the poor ghosts were probably going to more desperate measures to survive now. Danny HATED all the violence and killing with every bone in his body.

He was racking his brain trying to figure out some way it could stop. All the guarding and protecting of their base and rescuing attack victims was putting a severe strain on his physical body and his emotions. Cecelia had to remind him to change human often, because he was forgetting a lot these days. His ghost form was far less vulnerable. But for family time, he used his human form. It was a rare sight nowadays, his human form…

Over the course of time, Alek, and Danny's daughter Marisol, grew up together as best friends and were inspiring to their fellow ghost zone youth. They had a certain connection with each other that their parents couldn't completely explain. It was discovered while Alek was still young that he was approximately one quarter ghost. Marisol had been born a full ghost, and Danny and Cecelia didn't know what they were going to do with her but they loved her still. She and Alek fit in pretty well at the ghost school.

As the two kids grew older, they used to say that they were gonna get married as adults, but at this time, usually one of their parents would step in and remind them that they were cousins. But then again, when Danielle thought about it for a while, she couldn't completely drive the whole "cousin" point home, because technically she and Danny weren't siblings. Danielle had no genetic siblings or parents.

So…she wondered if Alek and Marisol might become more than friends as they got older, or if Danny and Cecelia would accept the idea of them liking each other or not. Kids didn't always realize their romantic feelings, but it was an obvious thing to adults. Love was there, and not just familial. But…_that was another story_. For another time. Danny Fenton's story ended here for a while, and it was time that the legacy of the next generation continued.

**The End**


	21. Author's Note! Updates!

**Sooo as you may or may not know, the story was updated recently and I changed the pairings. So hopefully no one will get confused reading the next generation books!**

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**The original Author's Note was me rambling about Next Gen stuff :3**

**For those of you who read my next generation stuff, you may know that I have multiple next generation universes. The Taylor and Leo universe is the ONLY ONE that 'The Adult Life' is canon with. The Adult Life sets the scene, so to speak, for both of the Taylor books—Timeless Virtues, Break Even, and Phantom Dream Land. Camp Everstar is a multiverse thing. But other next-generation stories I have (but do not have up here) like Skandar Phantom and Silhouettes, are their own AUs with their own timelines. Skandar Phantom is a DxC universe as well but it just has different next gen kids. Silhouettes is a WxC (Wenn and Cecelia) universe so it's not technically Danny Phantom. The Danny kids of Skandar Phantom and of Silhouettes DO appear in Camp Everstar though, so I hope that wasn't too confusing. **


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